


Point of Impact

by Grattsfan



Series: Point of Impact [1]
Category: USWNT - Fandom, United States Women's National Soccer Team - Fandom, Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:43:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 55,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grattsfan/pseuds/Grattsfan
Summary: Former USWNT players, Kelley O'Hara and Hope Solo have been married for a few years now. Kelley learns that Hope has cheated on her while she is expecting the couple's twin girls. It's the straw that breaks the camels back, Kelley can't handle Hope's cheating ways and asks for a divorce. It gets complicated when Kelley gives birth to their daughters. They come up with a solution that each will raise one of their daughters, on opposite sides of the country from each other and they won't have any contact with each other. What happens when 13 years later when Ava and Emelia meet at a soccer camp? Read and find out.
Relationships: Hope Solo/Original Female Character(s), Kelley O'Hara/Hope Solo, Kelley O'Hara/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Point of Impact [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870450
Comments: 55
Kudos: 172





	1. Chapter 1

“GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! WE’RE DONE, I WANT A DIVORCE!!”

“Kelley, please, you need to calm down this kind of stress isn’t good for the babies.”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU DECIDED TO SLEEP WITH THAT NFL REJECT!”

“I’m so sorry, I love you, I promise it will never happen again. Baby, please forgive me. I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“Hope, we’ve been through this already, you cheated on me, you cheated on our family. I’m done forgiving you, now I’m ready to forget you ever existed. Now, please, leave.”

Hope walks out the door of the house that she and Kelley have shared for the last five years and collapses on the sidewalk in tears.

One month later, Kelley ends up undergoing an emergency c-section after doctors grow concerned with the babies heart rates. Hope is allowed in the room to see her newborn daughters and brings them each a small teddy bear, not really knowing what else to do.

Kelley’s Mom, Karen and her sister Erin leave the room to allow them to talk in private.

“They’re beautiful, Kel.”

“They are, aren’t they. They came out screaming, must be the Irish in them.”

Hope takes a seat beside the bed and Kelley, “I want to help you raise our daughters.”

“Hope, I’ve already been in contact with a lawyer about a divorce.”

“I understand, and I agree we shouldn’t be married anymore but I’m not giving up my daughters without a fight.”

“Do you really think it’s in the best interests of anyone to engage in a pissing match over custody? We both have skeletons in our closets, Hope.”

“So, what do you suggest we do about it?” 

“Share custody 50/50, alternate holidays and special occasions.”

“Kel, I’m moving back to Seattle, soon. I want to be close to my family and I was offered a job with a local TV station to cover sports. That’s going to be a lot of travel for a couple of newborns.”

“What about if we each raise one of the girls?”

“Are you on drugs right now, Kel, because it sounds to me as though you are suggesting we break them up.”

“I am, it’s some good shit.” Hope can’t help but laugh at her soon to be ex-wife’s candour.

“How about we don’t make any decisions until you are out of the hospital and not high as a kite.”

“Okie, dokie. But we need to name the girl’s before they leave the hospital because otherwise, they won’t know that I’m talking to them.” Hope stands up, “Kel, I’ll be back in a minute, I’m just going to grab Erin so she can help with the naming process, okay?”

“Okie, Hopie!”

Hope leaves the room and walks down the hallway finding Erin and Karen at the coffee machine.

“I need your help.”

“Hope, Kelley has already decided to go through with the divorce.”

“I’m not going to fight that, she deserves to be happy and I totally screwed up. The meds she is on are making her kinda loopy and she suggested that we should separate the girls and each raise one. I need to know if that’s what she really thinks, and also I need your help with picking names. Did Kelley have any picked out? I know she was partial to Ava and Emelia before I left.”

“She still is, she told me she wanted to call them Ava Elisabeth and Emelia Grace.”

“Those are beautiful names.”

“They should be, she spent a lot of time searching for the right combination of names.”

“I’m going to head back in the room, can you find a nurse so we can fill out the paperwork, please?”

As Hope heads back into the room with Kelley and her daughters, Erin and Karen stand in the hallway and watch

“Do, you think Kel, is really going to go through with the divorce? She loves Hope so much and Hope loves her, they should be together.”

“I don’t think it’s a matter of love anymore, Erin, it’s a matter of trust. Kelley doesn’t trust Hope with her heart anymore. Hope destroyed any chance of them being together when she chose to cheat on Kelley.”

A few days later, Kelley, Ava and Emelia are all cleared and allowed to leave the hospital. Hope ensures her daughters are safe in their seats before allowing the O’Hara’s to drive them all back to Kelley’s house. Hope follows in her own car and when she arrives at her former home, she stops at the front door unsure of what to do. She knocks on it and Kelley’s father, Dan lets her in, giving her a weird look as he does.

For the next several weeks, Hope sleeps on her old couch and caters to Kelley’s every need as she recovers from the c-section. She looks after preparing the formula, changing, washing and feeding the girls while Kelley rests. From the outside, it would seem as though the children’s birth has brought Kelley and Hope back together, but that’s not the case as Hope finds out one evening when she overhears a conversation between Kelley and Erin.

“Kel, you can’t keep stringing Hope along, it’s not fair.”

“Was it fair of her to cheat on me?”

“No, it wasn’t, but using her as a babysitter isn’t right either.”

“She isn’t a babysitter, she’s their Mom too, Erin. Just because we are no longer together doesn’t mean that I don’t want her in their lives.”

“Then, you need to make that very clear to her, because right now she is doing everything she can in hopes of winning you back.”

“You’re right, I need to clarify things with her.”

The next day, Kelley asks to speak with Hope once the girls are down for a nap.

“You don’t need to say it, Kel, I overhead the conversation between you and Erin.”

“I’m sorry, Hope.”

“I love you Kelley and I’m fairly certain I always will, but we aren’t meant to be together right now.”

“I love you too, Hope. You remember how we always said it was fate that brought us together?”

“I do.”

“Well maybe, like you said we aren’t meant to be together right now, but we will find our way back to each other when the time is right.”

“Kismet.”

“Yes. Now, for the tough part, what do we do about the girls?”

“I’m still willing to do the 50/50 arrangement with you, but I think it will be extremely difficult on all of us.”

“I agree. You mentioned in the hospital about each of us raising one of the girls, would you still be agreeable to that?”

“As much as they shouldn’t be separated, I think that that might be the best option for all of us.”

“Okay, let’s contact the lawyers and get the paperwork drawn up along with the divorce sign off.”

A few weeks later, Kelley and Hope meet with the lawyers to finalize the terms of the arrangement.

“Okay, so once you both sign on the line. Kelley, you will retain custody of Ava Elisabeth Solo O’Hara and Hope you will gain custody of Emelia Grace Solo O’Hara, do either of you have any questions?”

They both shake their heads and after being handed a pen, sign the paperwork finalizing their divorce and custody arrangement.

Walking out of the lawyer's office, they both feel numb. Kelley stops and looks at the gold band on her finger. She slides it off and hands it to Hope, “I guess I don’t need this anymore.”

“I’m really sorry about all of this Kelley.”

“I know, but it’s for the better. Now, we can both move on.”

Returning to Kelley’s house, they walk in and find Karen with the girls.

“How were they?”

“Perfect angels barely said boo. Is everything taken care of?”

They both nod their heads. “Kel, is it okay if I use your laptop, to book our plane tickets?”

“Yeah, it’s in the bedroom, the password is still the same.”

Hope nods before heading up the stairs.

“You okay, Kelley?”

“No.”

“Just remember we’re all here for you and will help you get through this.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

As if knowing they were being separated, the girls who rarely made much noise cried non-stop on the day that Hope and Emelia were scheduled to leave for Seattle.

It made for an extremely long day of travel for Hope and by the time she reached her recently rented apartment in Seattle, she was exhausted. Thankfully, she was able to solicit the help of some family and friends and they helped get her set up with what she would need for a new baby.

Holding her sleeping daughter on her shoulder, Hope walked around the sparsely furnished apartment, “Welcome to your new home, Mia.”


	2. Chapter 2

13 years later

“Mom, are you sure you’re going to be okay while I’m gone? I can always skip going to the soccer camp this year.”

“Ava, we’ve already had this conversation. You are going to camp and going to have an awesome time like always and I’m going to find ways to keep myself busy. It’s important for you to get some exposure to scouts and competition outside of Georgia if you want to make a name for yourself. It’s only two weeks, I’ll be fine on my own, not to mention I’m flying down to see the final showcase game and then we can hit the waves.” 

“Why don’t you go out with that woman, that Auntie Erin has been trying to set you up with for the past like 6 months?”

“I’m not interested in dating.”

“Mom, c’mon, it’s been like two years since you got some action that didn’t require batteries. You need to get back on the horse, or whatever you call what you do.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Auntie Erin told me.”

“Remind me to have a chat with her about what are appropriate topics of conversation with you.”

“Mom, come on, it’s not like I don’t know what sex is and according to Auntie Erin, you not having it is why you’re always grumpy.”

“I’m going to kill her.”

“I’m not visiting you in jail.”

“Are you sure, you’re my kid?”

“Unfortunately, the freckles don’t lie!”

Kelley laughs, “Let’s go brat of mine before you miss your flight.”

“I love you, kid, be good for your Aunts at the camp and work hard, show them scouts what you can do!”

“I love you too, Mom and I’m sure Auntie Ash has some fun drills in mind for the keepers.”

“No doubt, just do me a favour and don’t let her talk you into getting any ink, while you’re there, ok?”

“No promises, Mom, ‘cause you know keepers are badass.”

“Yeah, well don’t forget I can still ground your bad ass.”

Ava laughs and hugs her Mom once more, “I’ll see you soon, Mom.”

Kelley watches on as her daughter turns back to smile and wave at her before disappearing into the crowd at the airport and boarding a plane destined for Orlando, Florida.

Returning to their apartment in Atlanta and is immediately struck by how quiet it is and how lonely she is already without Ava there to keep her on her toes. She plops down on her couch and turns the TV on watching and laughing at the terrible looking cakes being presented to the judges.

The apartment door opens and Kelley looks over to see her sister holding a pizza and a six-pack in her hands, “Figured you would need some cheering up.”

“You know me so well.”

“I would hope so after putting up with you and your crap for all these years.”

“You’re more than welcome to just drop the pizza and beer and leave, you know.”

“I do, but where’s the fun in that? Oh, you’re watching Nailed It, move over, I love this show.”

“Enjoy it while you can Sis, because once it’s over you and I are having a convo about sex.”

“No, it’s not normal to have spider webs growing down there.”

“It’s a good thing you’ve already been drinking or I’d kick your ass out right now. I meant we need to talk about sex and what ideas you’re feeling Ava’s head about it.”

“Squirrel, you have a teenage girl living under your roof, one who is curious about love, relationships and sex. She asked me about them and I told her she should speak to you about it. But I may have let it slip out about you and your battery-powered friend.”

“How, do you even know about what I have?”

“I was looking for batteries one day when your TV remote died and found your stash.”

Kelley puts out her hand towards Erin, who gives her a high five in response, “I want my house key back, you’ve lost your privileges.”

“We can discuss that later, right now look at that chicks cake it’s about to fall apart!”

Meanwhile on the other side of the country

“Mia, let’s go!”

“Don’t want too!”

“Don’t make me come up there and get you, young woman!”

“Why do I have to go to this stupid camp anyways?”

“Because it will be good for you to make some new friends, who aren’t involved in criminal activities and get exposed to a higher level of competition.”

“Really Mom, it was one beer, you can’t tell me you didn’t drink when you were my age and I can always play in the Elite league.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, doesn’t mean you are allowed to. While you live under my roof you will follow my rules, understand? And as far as the Elite league goes, that’s a no from me as I don’t need you turning into an entitled brat like most of them are.”

“Well, what if I didn’t live under your roof, anymore?”

“Mia, I get it, you’re mad at me for making you break up with Matt. But you have to understand it’s for your own good. He’s older than you and would expect certain things from you.”

“Like sex? Mom, we’ve already had the talk, I’m on birth control and you bought me a lifetime supply of condoms. You don’t need to worry so much about me.”

“I can’t help it, you’re my daughter, it’s my job to worry about you.”

“Ahh, you love me.”

“Yes, I love you, I just don’t like you all the time.”

“Love you too Mom, now can you help me carry my bags out to the truck?”

They drive to the airport and once there, Mia directs Hope just to pull to the curb and let her out as she doesn’t need her making a scene by crying in the middle of it. Hope does as she asks, hugging her and telling her that she loves her before her daughter makes her way inside and is engulfed in the crowd.

On the drive home, she calls her longtime friend, Carli, needing some words of encouragement.

_Ring, Ring_

“Did Mia get off to camp alright?”

“I assume so, apparently it’s not cool to have your Mom accompany you inside the airport anymore.”

“Welcome to parenting a teenager, Hopey. How are you doing?”

“It’s weird, she probably hasn’t even left the state yet and I miss her already.”

“That’s completely understandable, the two of you have never been apart for longer than a couple of days. Her being in Orlando for the next two weeks is going to be a test for both of you.”

“At least, I know that Ash, Ali, and Alex will be looking after her while she is there.”

“Not to mention, she will be getting tons of exposure to scouts that don’t generally make the trip to the West Coast to see players.”

“I never wanted her to follow in my footsteps and play soccer, you know, but she’s a natural and I couldn’t keep her away from it.”

“She has two former soccer stars for Moms, do you honestly think you could keep her away from the field?”

“No, but it might be easier if she was a keeper like me rather than being a defender, like Kelley.”

“Are you ever planning on telling her about them?”

“I was waiting until I thought she was old enough to understand everything, but now I’m scared that she is going to hate me for keeping them from her.”

“It’s possible, but she deserves to know that she has a sister and that her other Mom didn’t abandon her. You know that Kelley showed me a scrapbook she made of all the pictures you’ve sent her of Mia through the years. It’s amazing how much the girls look alike.”

“I would hope they look alike, being twins and all. I know you’re right, it’s time she knows. I’ll talk with her when I’m in Orlando, that way the 3 A’s can help me out.”

“Alex is still really close with Kelley, I’m not sure how she will react to seeing you again. You destroyed her best friend.”

“And I met my karma, when I cheated on her and Jerramy turned around and sent me to hospital, don’t you think? 3 surgeries later and I still don’t have the full range of motion in my shoulder and arm.”

“I’m sorry, I know it’s difficult for you to even think about, all I’m saying is that perhaps it’s time to try and push through those feelings for Mia.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Talk soon, Hopey and give Mia a hug for me, when you see her, ok?”

“I will, bye Carl.”

“Bye, Hope.”

In Atlanta

“So, Kristina is single and looking to mingle again, Kel, you interested?”

“No, I’m not interested in going out with her, even if she does have an amazing rack.”

“Seriously, Squirrel, when was the last time you got laid?”

“We aren’t having this conversation.”

“You need to get back out there. I hate seeing you alone.”

“My last two long term relationships have ended in me being cheated on. I can’t handle having my heart broken anymore, I’m done dating. I think I’m going to adopt a dog for company and marry my vibrator.”

“Wow, how the mighty have fallen. What happened to the old frat Daddy O’Hara, who never spent a night alone?”

“She grew up and became a Mom.”


	3. Chapter 3

Ava takes some deep breaths as her plane touches down in Orlando. She’s never been this far away from home or her Mom before and the reality is starting to hit her. She fights through wanting to cry and grabs her carry on, following the other passengers off the plane and then searching for the baggage area. Her anxiety level is off the chart as she waits and then collects her suitcase when it finally drops and comes around to her. Looking around she sees lots of people, but not the one person who is supposed to be meeting her. She is searching in her purse for her phone when she hears her name being called

“Ava!” Ava turns and sees her Auntie Alex running towards her. They hug, “Sorry, I’m late. The parking lot is a mess. Let me take a look at you.” Alex steps back and looks her over, “You really look more like your Mom every time I see you. You ready to show the others what you can do on the field and between the posts?”

“Always ready!” Alex laughs, “That’s good because Ash isn’t planning on taking it easy on you, just because you’re Wormy’s kid. In fact, she is probably going to work you harder, than anyone else. Now, we should get going, ‘cause I’m sure anytime now, Ali is going to call and ask where we are and how long until we get there.”

“Let’s get a move on then.”

A little while later, they pull up in front of what looks to be a school. Alex points to a building off to the side, “That’s your home for the next two weeks. Grab your stuff and follow me, I’ll show you to your room.”

Ava follows Alex into the building and up two flights of stairs. They stop at a door and Ava sees her name on a piece of paper attached to the door. “Looks like this is you.” Alex opens the door and walks into the room Ava follows behind her and surveys the room with 2 beds in it. “Which bed is mine?”

“Doesn’t look like your roomie is here yet, so I guess that means you get to choose. I have to head back to collect more of the girls as they arrive, there is a booklet on the desk that has everything you need including a map and your schedule for the next two weeks. If you need any help, just call Ali or follow the map to Room 201, okay?”

“I think so.”

Alex hugs her, “You’ll be fine. Don’t forget to call your Mom and let her know you are here safe and sound.”

“Thanks, Auntie Alex.”

“Oh, one more thing while you’re here call me Alex, ok? We don’t need the other girls getting any ideas that we are favouring you.”

“Got it, thanks, Alex.”

“I’ll see you at 6 in the cafeteria.” Alex heads out of the room, leaving Ava on her own.

Ava chooses the bed by the window and goes about putting her clothes in the dresser located close by. She lines up her cleats and shoes underneath the bed and makes sure that all her equipment is accounted for. It calms her to know that she has everything ready to go, for when the camp starts the next morning.

She takes her phone and unplugs it from where it was charging and calls her Mom. It rings 4 times before going to Kelley’s voicemail.

“Hey Mom, just calling to let you know I’ve arrived in Orlando. I hope you are out having fun right now. I love you, talk soon. Bye.”

Ava walks over to the desk that Alex pointed to earlier and collects the booklet with her name on it, opening it up she finds the map of the campus and decides to get more familiar with her surroundings. She collects what she needs and as she opens the door, another girl falls into the room.

“Crap! I’m sorry, do you need help?”

“Please.”

Ava collects one of the girl’s bags and helps her stand up. “You okay?”

“Not exactly the entrance I planned on making, but I guess it will have to do. I’m Lexa and from the sign on the door, I’m going to assume you’re Ava, correct?”

“Correct. Let me help you get situated. I was planning on going for a walk around, you’re welcome to join me if you like.”

“Totally, let me just call home and let them know I’ve arrived, mostly in one piece.”

Ava laughs, already liking her roommate. Once Lexa gets off the phone they head out together to go exploring.

“So, what’s your deal, Ava? Where are you from and what position do you play?”

“I’m from Atlanta and I’m a goalkeeper, you?”

“Boston and I’m a striker, so expect to see me coming at you a lot over the next two weeks.”

“Bring it.”

“Good movie. Let’s go find more clowns to play with.”

“Are you ever serious?”

“As a heart attack on the pitch, not so much off it.”

“I think you and my Mom would get along really well, although she’s become a lot more serious lately. She used to be happier and more fun to hang around with.”

“No Dad in the pic?”

“I’m a donor baby, probably will never know who my Dad is.”

“My parents are divorced, my Mom got tired of my Dad sleeping around on her and finally decided to kick him to the curb.”

“Siblings?”

“Not that I’m aware of, you?”

“Older sister, she was invited to the camp last year.”

“Cool. Ok, so from the looks of things, the cafeteria should be down the hall from here, wanna see if we can grab something to eat? Don’t know about you but I’m starving!”

“Food! Let’s go!” Ava laughs as her and Lexa make their way towards the cafeteria.

With Lexa at her side, it doesn’t take long before, Ava is on a first name basis with some of their fellow campers.

Meanwhile back at the dorm, Mia has arrived and after checking in at the desk is given directions and her room number.

With the airline having temporarily misplaced her suitcase her trip is definitely not off to a good start and she is miserable. She makes her way to her room, hoping that her roommate for the camp is at least tolerable. When she gets there, she can’t help but laugh at the fact that her roommate is curled up on the floor asleep.

She decides to grab the other bed and lay down for a bit herself. She closes her eyes and wakes up to really bad singing. She turns over and finds her roommate has now managed to get up off the floor and is putting away her stuff while listening and singing along with music playing through her headphones.

“Hey!” “Hello, anyone home?” Mia climbs off her bed and taps her unsuspecting roommate on the shoulder, causing her to let out a scream and jump. Mia can’t contain her laughter, but at the same time, she feels bad about scaring her.

“Sorry.”

“All good. I’m Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam and I’m going to guess that you are Emelia, correct?”

“Yes, but no one calls me that, I go by Mia.”

“Nice to meet you, sorry if I woke you up, I have a tendency to get into my tunes and forget that I’m not singing in my head.”

“It used to be one of my favourite songs until I heard you singing it. Thanks for ruining it for me.”

Sam gives her a blank look as if she isn’t sure if she’s kidding or not.

“I’m kidding, I’m fairly certain my singing is worse than yours. God help everyone if they have a karaoke machine here. So, why exactly were you sleeping on the floor?”

“It was my first time on a plane coming here and well I was so excited that I barely slept the last few nights. When I finally got here I was so exhausted that I tripped over my own feet and ended up on the floor, it was comfy so I decided just to crash there instead of moving.”

“Any idea what we are supposed to do for the rest of the day?”

“Nope, but they told me at the desk that there would be a folder of some sort in the room explaining everything.”

“I saw a booklet on the desk when I came in.”

Mia looks over and sure enough sees the book, she walks over and collects it.

“According to this we are part of the Blue Team, this is our daily schedule and a map of the facilities.”

Mia hears a grumbling coming from Sam and laughs, “I take it you didn’t eat either?”

“I had a protein bar earlier, but that’s it. What time does it say we eat at?”

“7:00.”

“Ok, next question, what time is it now?”

“Florida is 3 hours ahead, so I guess that means it 6:20 here.”

“Where are you from?”

“Seattle, you?”

“Just outside of Denver.”

“Wait does that mean it’s a different time for you right now than me?”

“I’m so hungry and confused, right now. Can we go and see if we can find an adult to tell us the time?”

“We have phones and Suri, we don’t need an adult.”

“Ask Suri, she knows everything!”

“Wait, your Suri is a girl? Mines a dude with an Aussie accent, he sounds sexy as hell, but I never have a clue what he’s saying.”

After she stops laughing, Mia asks Suri the current time and they are able to verify that it is indeed 6:20.

They decide to do a bit of exploring before finally making their way towards the cafeteria.

In the meantime, Ava and Lexa have finished eating and after putting away their plates, they head back to the Red floor with some of their teammates. 


	4. Chapter 4

Knock, knock

“Go away!”

Knock, knock

“Sam, you’re closer.”

“No way, I’m comfy.”

“Urgh! Fine!”

Mia climbs out of her bed and walks over to the door, “This better be good, it’s super early.”

Opening the door, she sees Ashlyn Harris holding her suitcase in her hand, “Thank god, I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of having to borrow underwear or a bra for today. It was enough to sleep in someone else’s shirt and shorts.” 

“You’re welcome.”

“Sorry, thank you, Ash.”

“Mia, I know you were reluctant to come, but I promised your Mom I would look after you and ensure that you had a good attitude while here. I really don’t want to get on her bad side, so can you at least try and be good while here?”

“If I promise to try harder, can I go back to sleep?”

“Blue team’s breakfast is in one hour, I would suggest, you not got back to sleep unless you plan on missing it.”

“Is there coffee?”

“Not for you there isn’t.”

“Seriously, you used to be the cool Aunt Ash, now not so much.”

“I’m still cool, kid, just a lot more responsible than I used to be. I blame Ali for it.”

“Should I tell her that?” 

“She already knows, anyway, I need to head back to supervise the Red team’s breakfast.”

Ashlyn turns and leaves Mia standing in the door with her suitcase. She picks it up and carries it in the room. Taking into account what Ashlyn said, she decides rather than climbing back into her warm bed to start getting herself organized. She collects what she needs and heads to the bathroom, to shower and get dressed in fresh clothes.

Heading back to her room, she throws a pillow at Sam and yells at her to get up and turn off her alarm. “I’m heading over for breakfast now, you coming?”

“5 more minutes?”

“You have the time it takes me to pack my go bag or else I leaving without you.”

“Okay.”

Sam rolls out off the bed and hits the floor, “oww.”

“You okay?”

“No. I’m so not a morning person.”

“Neither am I, but I promised my Mom I would try for at least the next two weeks. Can you believe Ashlyn said I can’t have coffee with my breakfast?”

“Coffee is gross, now beer that’s a whole ‘nother story.”

“Ohh, now you’re speaking my language. C’mon, and get some pants on, we can talk on the way.”

Back in Ava and Lexa’s room

“I think I ate too much, my sides hurt.”

“I told you to stop refilling your plate, Lex.”

“Couldn’t help it, my Mom isn’t exactly the world’s greatest cook and those pancakes were da bomb!”

“Just be glad that we’re in the classroom this morning and not doing testing like the Blue team is.”

“Not looking forward to testing, especially the beep test.”

“I don’t think anyone likes the beep test, but it’s important that they know where we stand at the beginning of the camp, so they can compare the numbers at the end of it.”

“You sound like you know more about the testing than you’re letting on.”

“My Mom made sure that I was prepared for it all.”

“No way! I just realized why you look so familiar to me, you’re Kelley O’Hara’s daughter aren’t you?”

“Shh! Please keep that on the down low, it’s not something that I go around advertising.”

“Why not? She was one of the greatest backs of all time!”

“And I’m a goalkeeper, who doesn’t want to be compared to that.”

“I get it, your secret is safe with me. But out of curiosity, do the counsellors know who you are?”

“Yes.”

“What’s it like having a former baller as a Mom?”

“She isn’t a former baller to me, she’s just my Mom and a pretty amazing one at that. She’s given up a lot along the way to ensure that I’ve always been happy and looked after; she’s my best friend.”

“I get that after my parents divorced my Mom, my sister Abby and my Aunts and I all became extra close. We’ve always had each other’s back.”

“What’s your sister like?”

“She’s pretty cool even if she is a middie, but I think that’s more because of my Aunts’ influence than anything.”

“Who is your Aunt?”

“Actually, the reason I asked you what it was like having a former player as your Mom, was because I needed to know that you weren’t interested in being my friend just because of who my Mom and Aunts are.”

“You said you were from Boston, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Your last name is Johnson though and I don’t remember any players with that last name.”

“It’s my Dad’s name, my Mom’s is Mewis as in Sam Mewis and my Aunts are Kristie and Rachel Daly. Steph McCaffrey is also my Aunt.”

“Wow, consider my mind blown. This is so cool, I’m glad that we’re roomies and we can talk to each other about this stuff. Knowing Ali, she probably did it on purpose, so we could watch each other’s back.”

“No doubt.”

“Random fact, my sister is named Abigail after Abby Dahlkemper. There was some sort of bet involved but my Mom has never given specifics about it.”

“That’s pretty cool. Where does your name come from?”

“Family name on my Dad’s side.”

“Crap, we need to head to our orientation now, or else I’m sure they’ll send out a search party for us, and I really don’t feel the need to get my ass kicked this early into the camp.”

Lexa laughs, “You have a nice looking ass, wouldn’t want to see any harm come of it.”

Ava looks at Lexa who winks and smiles at her. Ava ponders if what Lexa just said and did was real or if she was just playing with her. She decides to just let it go as they walk to the designated classroom along with some of the other girls from their team and take a seat.

Ali Krieger takes her place at the front of the class and introduces herself, even though it isn’t necessary when all the girls in the room know who she is. She goes through rollcall to ensure everyone has arrived before they begin their orientation session.

They listen for their names to be called, “Alexandra Johnson?” “Present, but please call me Lexa.” “Noted, Welcome, Lexa.”

“Ava O’Hara?” “Present.” Ali smiles and looks at her, “Welcome, Ava.” “Thank you.”

The next two and a half hours are filled with ice-breakers and getting to know you exercises amongst the Red team members and pass by fairly quickly. They are dismissed in time for lunch, with a reminder not to eat anything too heavy before the testing later in the afternoon.

As they are walking back to their dorm room after lunch they pass by some of the girls from the Blue team.

“How was the testing?”

“Brutal! A couple of the girls threw up after the beep test, it was so gross!”

“Eww.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t know about you, but I think I’m grabbing a nap before testing.”

“I’m going to do some meditation, to help get me mentally ready.”

‘Suit yourself, wake me up when you’re done.”

“Will do.”

Ava opts to put in some headphones and complete a guided meditation, as she knows her focus is lacking at the moment. She allows herself a few minutes of quiet reflection before standing up and walking over to wake up Lexa.

They get changed into their Red shirts, shorts and running shoes and head off in search of the training area. They are separated into smaller groups and sent to different stations to complete the testing. Once the baseline testing is done they all assemble and prepare to complete the dreaded beep test.

As the levels begin to get higher, more and more of the players fall by the wayside. Ava is comfortably outrunning the beeps, with Lexa surprisingly keeping pace with her. Seeing the other two girls to the side of them eliminated, the roommates stare each other down as they continue running while everyone else cheers them on.

Alex standing off to the side sneakily films Ava running the test and after Lexa drops out, sends it on to Kelley to see.

“Good job girls, make sure you hydrate and do a complete recovery session including an ice bath. Tomorrow we will be doing some yoga and pool exercises in the morning and in the afternoon we’ll be taking a bus and going on a hike, make sure you wear appropriate footwear, please. And no, sandals aren’t appropriate.”

Alex collects the test results and heads back to the staff area to hand them off to Ali, who will be using them to create a profile for each of the players at the camp.

Ali looks over the papers, “Looks like Ava scored pretty high, across the board. Can’t wait to see how she performs on the field.”

“How did the Blue team, do?”

“Ash hasn’t brought me their results yet. It’s weird, she’s been keeping me away from them for some reason. She even completed the orientation session with them, rather than me.”

“Well, it is a competition, maybe she just doesn’t want her team to lose like last year; and is keeping everything on the downlow.”

“I need the test info though, for their profiles, I’m going to go and find her.”

“Check the cafeteria.”

Ali makes her way to the cafeteria and smiles at the girls laughing and having some fun in there. She spots her wife leaning against the wall, holding a clipboard and walks over to her.

“Ash, what’s going on? You’ve become very secretive about the members of the Blue team. Alex is questioning it and I need their test info.”

“Ali, I need to tell you something, but not here, not now. I’ll talk to both you and Alex in the office once it’s light out, ok?”

“Can I have the clipboard, please?”

“No, it’s staying with me for the moment.”

“Ash, you aren’t fudging the results to make your players look better are you?”

“No, I would never do that and I would think that after all these years you would know that.”

“I do. I trust you, Ash. I really hope that you aren’t hiding any bad from me.”

“Al, I promise I will tell you everything later. I need to go and make sure that the movie choice in the common area is age-appropriate. I don’t want to have to explain to anyone that their daughter was subjected to an R movie while here.” Ashlyn kisses her wife on the cheek before leaving the room.

Back in Mia and Sam’s room, they are checking their social media and messages before bed.

Mia starts laughing when she reads a message sent to her earlier in the day from her Mom.

“S’up?”

“My Mom is worried because Ralph, her rooster has gone missing.”

“And that’s funny, why?”

“Because Ralph is an asshole and chases me whenever I go near him. I really hope that he is gone for good this time. Last time he disappeared for a couple of days and my Mom got a call from our neighbour asking her to come and pick him up as he was walking them up quite early in the morning.”

“Maybe you should send her a message asking if she found him yet?”

“I already did, I may not like the stupid bird, but she does and knowing her she has been out calling and looking for him all day.”

“Do you live on a farm?”

“No, but I think if it were up to my Mom we would. She loves gardening and growing her own food and getting fresh eggs from the chickens.”

“Can I ask you something, Mia?”

“Sure.”

“You said you are from Seattle and I know your last name is Solo, are you related to Hope Solo by any chance?”

“She is my Mom, she adopted me as a baby, but please keep that information to yourself. I want to be recognized for my own playing not for being her daughter.”

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise. I’m surprised you aren’t a keeper though if she’s your Mom.”

“I tried it when I was younger, but something about it just didn’t feel right to me so I switched to being a defender.” 

Alex walks into the office and grabs a seat beside Ali, “Where’s Ash? She said to meet her here, after lights out. Do you have any idea what’s going on with her Kriegs?”

“Nope, but she’s been seriously dodgy lately.”

Ashlyn enters the room, “Sorry, had to sort out a roommate issue.” She closes the door behind her before approaching Ali and handing her the clipboard.

“Tell me if you recognize any of the names, of the girls on the Blue team.” Ali looks down the list, “No, should I?” “Look closer, Al.”

“Ashlyn Michelle Krieger Harris, you have some serious explaining to do.”

“What’s going on, Ali?”

Ali shows Alex the name beside her thumb, “It’s been nice knowing you, Ash.”


	5. Chapter 5

Ali looks at Ashlyn who is hanging very close to the door, “Sit, and start explaining yourself.”

“We were asked to select the top 40 U14 players in the US for this camp and that’s exactly what I did. Mia earned her way here and deserves a chance to be seen, regardless of your issues with Hope. Take a look at her test results and the video of her playing and you will agree.”

Ali and Alex look over the sheets and scores and out of curiosity pull up Ava’s scores to compare them, “They are nearly identical, both are at the top of their groups.”

“Exactly. Stop looking at this from the personal angle and turn your coaching and mentor vision back on and you’ll see that I was right in what I did, just perhaps not right in the way I did it. I’m sorry, I hid it from both of you but I knew you would have some strong feelings about it, and most likely disinvite Mia as a result of them. Mia is a good kid underneath it all and she really does deserve this opportunity.”

“Ash, I need you to be 100% completely honest with me, did you invite both Ava and Mia with the intention of trying to get Kelley and Hope back together?”

“I can’t say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. They are both my friends and I love them both, and from what I’ve gathered neither of them are involved with anyone currently or have been for quite some time. You guys know that I always felt that they belonged together like Ali and me, but honestly, it was only a very small part of my thinking in inviting both of the girls.”

“So, was your plan to keep the Red and Blue teams as far away from each other as possible for the duration in hopes that Ava and Mia wouldn’t meet or that they would meet?”

“It’s inevitable that they will cross paths, considering the structure of the camp and games, I was just trying to prevent it from happening early in the camp, so it wouldn’t affect their testing results.”

“You really thought this out, didn’t you, Ash?”

Ashlyn nods her head in response to Alex’s question.

Ashlyn looks at her wife who seems deep in thought, “Ali?”

Ali takes a couple of deep breaths before speaking, “Ash, I understand why you did what you did; you’re right I do still have some strong feelings towards Hope and the entire situation and I may have chosen to take them out on Mia in response. That doesn’t change the fact that you felt the need to cover your tracks and lie to us about it. I was considering sending you to the guest room when we get home, and still might, but I think in lieu of that, you are now going to be the one who calls both Kelley and Hope and lets them know what is going on.”

“Do I have too? Can’t we just wait and see what happens?”

“Nope, you created this mess, now you get to deal with it.”

“Hope is going to kill me, she’ll probably feed me to those dogs of hers. She’s a little bit loco at times.”

Ali and Alex laugh in agreement with Ashlyn’s assessment of their former USWNT teammate.

“Alex you’re in charge of the Red side and me the Blue, how about we just try and follow the schedule and keep the chances of encounters to a minimum for the time being and I promise I will call O’Solo at the beginning of the week.”

“You’ve got 4 days, Ash, you better hope that nothing happens within those days. And consider yourself banned to the guest room until you make those calls.”

“Ali, baby, wife of mine, love of my life.”

“Stop Ash, you and your puppy dog eyes and nicknames aren’t going to work this time. Now, let's head home, I’m tired.” Ali gathers up her stuff from the office and gets her jacket on and all three of the former players walk out to the parking lot together before separating and driving home.

“You know you’ve put Alex in a really difficult position Ash, Kelley is one of her best friends. She was there to pick up the pieces after they broke up and has been there every step of the way with Ava.”

“I know and I feel horrible putting her in that position, but it’s been 13 years and it’s way past time for all of us to grow the fuck up, and accept what happened in the past and move forward. Everyone has always been so caught up in Hope vs Kelley and taking sides in their situation that no one has taken into account the feelings of the children who are about to be caught in the point of impact of it all.”

“Ash, I think you are mixing up your psychology and crime shows, but I get what you mean. I just hope that you know, you set the wheels in motion for something and when the two sides meet, I could get bad really quick.”

“Or call me an optimist, Babe, it could change things for the better.” 

Pulling up to their house, Ali seeing an extra vehicle there remembers that they left Uncle Kyle in charge of their kids while they were away.

“Ash, I just realized that Kyle’s in the guest room, so I hope you find the couch comfy.”

“But my back ..”

“Nope, not going to work.”

Walking into the house they find Kyle playing video games with their 10-year-old son, Ace.

“Uh oh, busted!”

“Ace, it’s way past your bedtime, buddy.”

“He didn’t want to go to sleep until you guys were home.”

Ashlyn walks over to her son, “Let’s go, I have a feeling that Mommy and Uncle Kyle are going to be having a little chat.”

Ali hugs and kisses her son on the forehead before Ashlyn and he head upstairs.

“Kyle, you know how important it is to me that they get to bed at a regular time.”

“I tried, Acacia went down without a problem, but Ace wouldn’t go to sleep. As soon as I turned the lights off he started crying.”

“Did you check for monsters in the closet and under the bed? And put the nightlight on?”

“No, was I supposed too?”

“You didn’t read the note I left you, did you?”

“There was a note? Wait was it on a yellow post it? Because if so I think it fell off the fridge and Logan tried to eat it.”

“I’m too tired to even go there right now, but the gist of it was, that since my wife decided that our son was old enough to watch a scary movie with her, he has been having difficulties going to sleep unless he is reassured that there isn’t anyone or anything in his bedroom and there is a bit of light in the room.”

“That makes sense now.”

“Good, I’m going to bed now, see you in the morning.” Ali heads upstairs and into the bedroom, getting changed alongside her wife. Ash starts to pull the covers back, “Don’t even think about it, to the couch with you!”

Ashlyn leans over and kisses Ali, before collecting her pillow and heading out of the room. As she heads downstairs, she meets Kyle, who seeing the pillow in her hand laughs, “Doghouse again, huh?”

“Yep. Night.” 

The next few days go by and with everyone now on the same wavelength, the Red and Blue teams are kept away from each other on the basis that they don’t want the opposition to catch onto their game strategies. It all seems to be working until one evening when both teams have free time and decide to have a movie night involving both groups.

Ava having been put through the wringer earlier in the day with a goalkeeper training session with Ashlyn and a few other staff members, opts to not attend and instead decides to stay in her room and ice down the shoulder that she landed on awkwardly earlier.

“You sure you don’t want to come to movie night? It’s a Ryan Reynolds one and I know how much you like him.”

“Nah, I promised my Mom I would call and check in anyways, you go and have fun, maybe see if you can bring me back some popcorn.”

“Deal. See you after.”

Lexa leaves the room and Ava gets herself situated comfortably on her bed with the ice pack attached to her shoulder before Facetiming her Mom.

“Hey kiddo, I miss you, how’s the camp going so far?”

“Really well, I think, Alex told me my scores were pretty good in the testing and I’ve been working my butt off in the drills and learning lots from Ashlyn.”

“Good to hear. Are you icing your shoulder? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, Mom. I just landed on my shoulder and it’s a bit sore. Ashlyn told me to ice it and check in with her in the morning. So what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

“Not much, although I did go out for drinks with the woman Erin has been trying to set me up with.”

“How was that?”

“Well, if I was interested in a one night stand, it would have been perfect. Instead, I had a couple of drinks and caught a cab home alone.”

“I’m sorry Mom.”

“It’s not your fault, kiddo. It’s just been really hard for me to let anyone in since Anne cheated on me.”

“Grandma always tells me to believe that God has a plan for us all, maybe you weren’t meant to hit it off with Kristina because your true love awaits.”

“I hope so, kiddo, but in the meantime, I’m happy with you and I can’t wait to come and see you play.”

“I’ll be the one wearing gold as in at the top of the podium.”

“Eww, I always hating the gold keeper kits.”

“It was the choice of that or an all-white one. Because it’s US affiliated camp they’ve kept to the team colours.”

“I get it. Are you excited to play against the girls on the other side?”

“You know me, mom, I’m always excited to get between the posts whether it’s a game or a training session.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand why keepers are always excited to launch their bodies in front of the ball.”

“Because keepers are weird, or so you’ve told me a million times before.”

“You could always switch to playing out.”

“Nope. I like being a keeper. Hold on a sec Mom, my roommate just came back.”

Ava turns her phone to show Kelley, Lexa panting. “Hey Mom, I’m gonna go. I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”

“Yep, Love you, bye!”

“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”

Ava hangs up her call

“What’s up? Where’s my popcorn? And why are you out of breath?”

Lexa takes a seat beside her, “This is going to sound totally weird.”

“Uh-huh as if half the stuff you say isn’t already weird Lex, get to the point.”

“You know how we were having a movie night with the girls from the Blue team?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, one of the girls on Blue looks exactly like you and I thought it was you and I may have dumped a bowl of popcorn over her head thinking it would be funny.”

“You didn’t!”

“Yep, she wasn’t happy about it at all. Definitely isn’t as chill about things as you are. Anyways, I told her that I was going to bring you down to show it was an honest mistake when I said I thought she was my roomie. So, you have to come with me now.”

“I’m in my PJ’s, Lex, I don’t want to get changed to go out.”

“You’re fine, most of the girls are as well, now c’mon put your shoes on and let’s go.”

Ava follows Lexa to the movie room, “You realize if this is another one of your pranks, I’m going to ask for another roommate.”

“Trust me, it’s not!”

Lexa walks over to a group, and a girl stands up that causes Ava’s jaw to drop when she sees her, “Oh my God!”


	6. Chapter 6

“Ava? Ava?” “Someone get help!” 

When Ava next opens her eyes, she is laying in her bed surrounded by Lexa, Ashlyn, Ali and Alex.

“How are you feeling?”

Ava blinks her eyes and tries to get her bearings, “What happened?”

“You fainted. Ash carried you here.”

“That girl, she looks exactly like me.”

“How about you get some rest now and we’ll check on you in a bit, ok?”

“Ok.”

The three former USWNT players leave the room and make their way towards the Blue dorm rooms.

“Ash, you need to call Kelley and Hope, now.”

“I’m scared, Ali.”

“Not so much of a badass keeper now eh Harris?”

“Shut up Morgan. You guys go and check on Mia and I’ll head back to the office and call O’Solo.”

“I would strongly suggest you not call them that on the phone or in-person or else Hope is definitely going to feed you to her dogs.”

“Not funny Ali.”

“Yeah, it is. Now, get to making those calls.”

“Yes, dear.”

Ashlyn can hear Alex and Ali laugh as they walk away.

Ashlyn enters the staff office and shuts the door, walking over to her desk and taking a seat as she feels the butterflies floating around her system. Taking a few minutes to prepare and collect her thoughts, she picks up her phone and dials, the former defender first.

RING, RING

“Hello?”

“Did I wake you? you should like you were sleeping.”

“I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie, why are you calling? Is everything ok with Ava?”

“Um, you’re sitting down right, KO?”

“Harris, get to the point.”

“Mia’s here and her and Ava met.”

“What! How did that happen?”

“I invited both of them to the camp and figured that I would be able to keep them apart, but it didn’t work and they met and well, Ava fainted. So I guess I’ll see you soon then.”

“It’s a good thing I’m half asleep right now, or else I’d probably have more than a few words for you, right now. I’ll see about catching the first flight out and believe you and me, we are going to be having a chat when I get there. Be prepared to see me go full-blown Irish on your ass, Harris.”

Ashlyn is left listening to dead quiet as Kelley hangs up on her.

Ashlyn puts her phone down, and takes a drink from the water bottle on her desk, “That went well, I guess.” “I really should learn to stop talking out loud to myself.”

She braces herself for the next conversation to come and lets the phone dial the number.

The first call goes to voicemail and Ashlyn debates taking the easy way out and just leaving a message on the big bad former goalkeeper’s phone, but then realizes she will never get out of Ali’s doghouse if she does, so she calls back again.

Hope answers breathing hard, “What’s going on Harris?”

“You okay, you sound out of breath?”

“Fine, just not in tip-top shape anymore, now what was so important that you couldn’t just leave me a message and get on with it.”

“Please, don’t kill me I don’t want Acacia and Ace to grow up without a Mom.”

“Harris!”

“I invited Ava to the camp as well as Mia, I figured that I could keep them apart and well that didn’t happen. They met tonight, well, not really met, so much as saw each other and then Ava fainted and had to be carried back to her room.”

“Is she okay?”

“She will be.”

“Have you spoken with Kelley, yet?”

“She is coming here tomorrow.”

“Then I will be on the first flight out as well.”

“Should I be concerned about how well you seem to taking the news that your daughters finally met?”

“You should be very concerned, just think of all the time I will have on the plane to figure out ways to destroy you.”

“Oh shit.”

Ashlyn hears Hope let out a laugh in response.

“I’ll be in touch very soon with my flight information. Goodbye Harris.”

Ashlyn makes her way to the Blue dorm to check in with her wife and see how Mia is doing. The door to her and Sam’s room is propped open so she lets herself in and sees Mia in tears with Ali holding her.

“I just don’t understand what’s going on, that girl looks exactly like me. Is this a joke, because if it is, it’s not funny.”

“Mia, honey, it’s not a joke. There are somethings that you should know but it’s not our place to tell you. Your Mom will be here tomorrow to fill you in. In the meantime, you can take tomorrow off and not worry about training for the day, ok?”

“Can I stay with her?” Ali looks over at Sam sitting on her bed watching everything. “Yes, I think it’s a good idea for her not to be alone. Just try and keep the shenanigans to a minimum, ok?”

Sam nods.

“It’s getting close to lights out, so we’re going to head out now. If either of you needs anything, call or message one of us or one of the other staff members.”

Sam and Mia both nod

Ali reluctantly leaves Mia after Sam assures her that she will look after her roomie.

“Did you make the calls, Ash?”

“Yes and I hear Canada is nice this time of year.”

“That well, huh?”

“As well as could be expected, they both took it in stride, but I’m sure once it kicks in there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“The girls are both scared and in shock, I feel so bad for them.” Ashlyn holds her wife, “I know, but there isn’t anymore we can do for them right now, it’s not our place to explain things.”

After checking back in with Ava and Lexa, they head home for the evening. Walking the door of the Krieger – Harris household there is a heaviness in the room as they check in with Kyle to see how the kids were for him.

“The kids were great, what’s going on with the two of you, you look like someone died.”

“Not yet, but I think I’m going to keep my passport handy for the next days at least.”

“Sounds serious, everyone okay?”

“No, Ash created a life-altering situation for two of our campers.”

“What? How?”

“You remember, way back when Kelley O’Hara and Hope Solo were married and had twin girls, then divorced and separated the girls. Well, my wife thought it would be a good idea to bring them all back together.”

“Oh honey, let’s go find that passport of yours.” Kyle gets up and walks towards Ashlyn, “So, I take it that this is the reason you are in the doghouse?” Ash nods.

The next morning alarms go off and no one feels like getting up or moving, all are exhausted from a relatively sleepless night.

In the Red dorm, Ava and Lexa are curled up together in Ava’s bed. She cried herself to sleep on Lexa’s shoulder and Lexa didn’t have the heart to disturb her, so she tried to make herself as comfortable as possible on the small bed.

“How are you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

“How about we get up, and grab some breakfast. Maybe it will help.”

“I don’t feel like eating.”

“Too bad, I do and you are coming with me. Ali left me in charge of you and I plan on looking after you. Now, please get up because I really have to pee and you’re laying on my arm.”

Ava laughs, before rolling off the bed and freeing her roommate to make a dash to the washroom.

She retrieves her toiletries bag and follows her roommates lead to the washroom, returning to the room and getting changed into fresh clothes as Lexa checks her messages.

“You look like heck but at least you have minty fresh breath!”

“Let’s go, before I change my mind.”

Ava and Lexa head down to the cafeteria to have some breakfast. Ava is aware of the eyes on her and a few of the girls attempt to approach her, but Lexa keeps them away and allowing her the quiet to think.

They finish eating, put away their dishes and then head back up to their room.

Ava collapses on her bed while Lexa does the same on hers, “What are we going to do today? Ali said we could skip training today if we wanted.”

“Can we just be quiet and sleep?”

“Sounds good to me, I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Thanks, Lex.”

While they go back to sleep, in the Blue dorms Mia and Sam are racing each other through the halls and down the stairs to the cafeteria.

“That was fun.”

“I don’t think that one girl we knocked over in the hallway would agree.”

“She didn’t move when we clearly had the right of way.”

Mia laughs at her roommate, “You clearly seem to be feeling better this morning.”

“Not really, but my Mom has always taught me that no matter how tough things get, you need to keep going. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“What are we doing today? I assume we aren’t going to spend the day in our room.”

“Nope, I was actually thinking of going to see her and check that she was ok.”

“Her name is Ava, by the way.”

“Ava? As in A v a?”

“I believe so, why?”

“Ava isn’t a common name I don’t think and I remember my Mom getting me to drop letters and cards in the mail to someone named that, she said she was a cousin. I think she lives in Georgia.”

“Weird. I think we need to do some investigating.”

“I’m in, let’s go.”

“Can we finish eating first before we decide to take over the world?”

“Yes, but hurry up.” 

Once Mia and Sam finish eating and clean up their area, they decide to head to the Red dorm and see if they can find Ava.

Walking down the hallway they finally find a paper with the names, “Alexandra Johnson and Ava O’Hara” on it and stop outside the door.

Mia freezes up and Sam reaches around and knocks on the door, “You were taking too long.”

The door opens and a tired-looking Lexa opens it, “She’s sleeping.”

“No, I’m not Lex, let her in.” Ava sits up and her and Mia get there first real look at each other.

Lexa looks at Sam and reaches her hand out, “I’m Lexa and you are?”

“Sam.”

“Sam, how about you and me go for a walk and let them talk.”

Sam looks at Mia, who nods indicating it’s okay. Lexa doesn’t wait for a response from Ava as her friend and roommate is too busy looking over Mia. Sam and Lexa head away from the room, leaving the two girls to talk.

“Can I sit?” Ava nods that it’s okay for Mia to sit on Lexa’s bed.

“This is so weird, it’s like looking in a mirror.”

“I agree. So, your name is Mia, right?”

“Actually, it’s Emelia, but everyone calls me Mia.”

“Cool, I think I have a cousin who lives in Settle with the same name.”

“Ava, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“June 5th, yours?”

“June 5th. Where were you born?”

“Atlanta, Georgia, you?”

“Same. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“I think we definitely do.” 


	7. Chapter 7

As Ava and Mia spend time together, getting to know more about each other, the similarities between the two, their backgrounds and the way their Moms have always been reluctant to talk about the circumstances of their birth; it becomes very apparent to both that share much more than just similar looks between them.

Sitting on Ava’s bed, they begin to assemble the pieces of who they are with a little help from the internet.

“Ava, check this out.” Mia passes over her phone and Ava sees a picture taken many years ago of her Mom with Mia’s Mom with the caption, “Just Married!”

“I always assumed that they knew each other because they played together on the USWNT, but I never knew they were together off the field. Our Moms have a lot of explaining to do when they get here, including answering the question if we are in fact sisters like we already feel as though we are.”

“It’s weird, I always felt alone even when I was with a bunch of people like something was always missing. It wasn’t something, it was someone; it was you all along.”

As Ava and Mia cry and hug each other the door opens and Lexa and Sam return along with a guest.

Ava looks over at the doorway, “Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Ash called me and I hopped on the first flight here. Is it too much to ask for a hug?” Ava lets go of Mia and walks over to Kelley and hugs her, “Is Mia, my sister?”

Kelley looks at Mia on the bed, smiles and nods, “Yes, Emelia is your twin sister.”

Walking towards the bed as she sees her daughters standing side by side and holding hands and the emotions take over. She feels arms wrap around her and knows it’s Ava supporting her and leading to the bed to sit down.

“Um, I’m going to leave now, I think you guys need to talk.” Ava nods at Mia as her sister leaves the room, with Lexa and Sam not far behind.

“Mom, you know I love you and regardless of what has gone on, I always will but you need to tell me the truth about Mia, Hope and well, everything.”

“Ok, I’ll do my best.”

“Hope had been with the USWNT for a few years already and she was dominant on the field; probably the best goalkeeper of all time but she struggled with her own demons off the field and that got her into a lot of trouble. As she played more, she began alienating everyone off of the field, to the extent that no one wanted to be roommates with her; because they were afraid of having a lamp or a television thrown at them. I came along as a rookie and when they couldn’t find anyone to room with her, they stuck me and her together. Hope has an extremely tough outer shell and it took a lot of work on my part but eventually, I managed to crack it. I think I was the first person who actually showed an interest in getting to know the real Hope Solo, not the soccer player and that went along the way, my general hotness probably helped as well. Anyways, as time progressed we began requesting to be roomies because we got each other. We started to get closer to each other on and off the field and before either of us realized it, we had fallen in love. Hope was my first love. After keeping our relationship on the down-low for years, we decided that we no longer wanted to hide it and we soon became engaged and were married shortly after that.”

“What happened?” Ava moves closer to her Mom, who is struggling to tell the story.

“We wanted to have kids, and the doctors told us that the likelihood of Hope carrying a pregnancy to term was very low, because of some health issues. I started undergoing fertility treatments and getting the shots and everything and became pregnant. Hope was away for work and I was supposed to be taking it easy, but I didn’t. I decided to surprise her by painting and decorating the nursery and I was working non-stop on it and was tired, I missed a step and fell off the ladder. I ended up losing our son and putting a wedge in our marriage. Hope blamed me and I blamed myself for it. We separated for a year afterwards and with a lot of counselling and talking we started to put our relationship back together, or so I thought. I went ahead and continued with the treatments thinking that if I were to become pregnant again it would heal our pain. I found out I was expecting twins and I couldn’t wait to share the news with Hope but she wasn’t returning my calls or messages. I found out that she had been seeing a guy named Jerramy on the side. She tried to deny it when I confronted her with it initially but then admitted to it. We got into a huge argument, I kicked her out of the house and filed for divorce.”

“How did Mia and I end up being separated?”

“Please understand that it wasn’t because we didn’t love you both, we did, I mean we do, love you both. Hope and I couldn’t come up with a custody arrangement that would work as she was moving back to Seattle. We didn’t want for you guys to be constantly flying back and forth cross country, so we decided that we would each raise one of you.”

“But why did you always let me think that I was an only child?”

“Hope and I were so hurt by everything that it was just easier to try and move on without having any contact with each other. We went for the first two years of your lives without knowing anything about how each of you was doing. On your second birthday, I threw a big party and invited some of my former US teammates, pictures of you were posted online and Hope saw them and contacted me. We started messaging back and forth and soon we were keeping each other updated with everything going on in your lives. Cards, letter, pictures and presents have been exchanged through the years. I assume you’ve now figured out who Auntie H and your cousin Mia are.”

“Yeah, didn’t take much to put that together.”

“Ava, I’m so sorry, I’ve always preached to you about honesty and being able to talk about and anything and everything and here I am a complete contradiction to it all.”

“Mom?”

“Yes.”

“You need to leave, get out of my room, now.”

“Ava, please.”

“I can’t do this right now, I need to think and process and try to absorb the fact that you’ve been lying to me, my entire life. No, forget it, I’m leaving.” Ava collects her bag and takes off out the door, while Kelley curls up in a ball on her bed.

Kelley feels a body lay down with her, “It’ll be okay, Kel, she’ll come back.”

“I really screwed everything up didn’t I, Alex?”

“Yeah.”

Ava keeps going until she finds herself heading down the path to the fields. As she slows down, she sees a figure on the grass shooting balls into the netting.

“Looks like we had the same idea.” Mia walks over towards her and sits down on the bench beside her, “How are you doing?”

“As well as can be expected when you find out that the one person you trust most in the world has been lying to you all your life.”

“My Mom should be arriving very soon, I’m not looking forward to the conversation we are about to have.”

“It’s not going to be easy, but at least now we have each other to get through it all.”

“You know I was doing some thinking.”

“That’s what the smoke is from!”

“Hey.” The nudge each other, “Anyways, what I was thinking about is how weird it is that I’m a defender living with a former goalkeeper while you are a goalkeeper living with a former defender.”

“Yeah, now, that I think about it, that is totally weird how that all worked out.”

“So, you got your gloves in the bag?”

“I never go anywhere without them.”

“Good, put them on and get in the net. I’m going to show you how a real player, plays.”

“Bring it on sister!”

Ava and Mia look at each other and smile before jogging towards the goal and collecting the balls in the netting.

While Ava and Mia play together for the first time as sisters, Kelley and Alex make their way to the office where Ashlyn and Ali are going over the daily schedule and results.

“Harris, we need to talk.” Ashlyn looks up and sees Kelley standing in the doorway. “You look good KO, have you lost weight?” Kelley walks towards her and Ashlyn shrinks into her chair.

“Kriegs, I have something to show you somewhere that’s not here, let’s go and leave these two to talk.” Ali nods and follows Alex towards the door

“I love you, Ali.” They laugh as the former keeper yells it.

“So how mad is she with Ash?”

“She’s hurting. She talked with Ava and it didn’t go well. She feels as though, she’s lost her daughter. Ash will be fine because Kelley understands that it has very little to do with her, but I would expect that there will be some form of punishment involved if you know what I mean.”

“One KO special coming up, huh?”

“Yep, I really hope your medical insurance is paid up because I don’t think Ash is in any shape for it right now.”

“Nope.”

“Wonder if Hope will take pity on her if she can barely move?”

“Not a chance. I have a feeling before this day is done, I’m going to need to cut my wife down from the goal.”

“Serves her right for getting involved in the first place.”


	8. Chapter 8

Ava and Mia lay on the field after playing around and testing each other’s skill level out.

“I wouldn’t mind having you as the goalkeeper on my team, you’re better than the one the Blue team currently has.”

“I appreciate it, you’re not so bad yourself, little sis.”

“Who you calling little? We are pretty close to in height to each other.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m the firstborn, so that makes you my little sis.”

“Seriously? How much older are you than me?”

“5 minutes.”

“Maybe there was a mix-up and I was born first.”

“Do you have a birthmark on your right side?”

“Not that I’m aware of, why?”

“Because Mom told me that’s how they could tell us apart, I have a birthmark and you don’t. That’s how I know that I was born first.”

“Okay, I’ll let you have that provided you don’t call me little sis anymore.”

“I’ll try not to. I can call you a loser when my Red team defeats your Blue team, next week when the games begin.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“You wanna bet on that?”

“Whatcha thinking?”

“I’m thinking that if your team wins, I will yell out in front of everyone that you are the superior sister, but if my team wins you kiss, Lexa.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because Sam told me that she likes you.”

“Lexa likes me? As in like, likes me?”

Mia laughs at her flustered sister, “Yes, the question is do you like her too?”

“Maybe. But I’ve never really done anything like that.”

“You haven’t had your first kiss yet? What rock have you been hiding under? Next, you’re going to tell me that you’ve never tasted beer either.”

Ava looks down and Mia shakes her head, “For what it’s worth I only just recently had my first and well it wasn’t great, he wanted to use tongue and I didn’t. My Mom caught us sharing a beer and threatened his life if he ever came near me again. She can be pretty intense at times.”

“Mom told me that their teammates were afraid of her and didn’t want to be her roommate, that’s how they initially ended up together.”

“Sounds about right. Anyways we should get back it’s getting close to supper time and I don’t know about you but I’d like to get a shower in before I eat.”

Walking back over to the bench, the remove their cleats and put their stuff away before walking back towards the campus and dorms.

“Mia?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being cool about everything.”

“You’re welcome.”

The girls head back to the dorms and go their separate ways in order to get cleaned up and ready for supper.

In the meantime Kelley is sitting in the office across from Ashlyn, catching up and getting an explanation of everything.

“You do realize that the one thing I always asked of you was that you respect me and my decision to separate the girls and divorce Hope.”

“I did and have. This isn’t about you guys, it’s about the girls. Have you seen the two of them on the field? They are Kelley O’Hara and Hope Solo 2.0, they are naturals and with the right coaching could be the next faces of the USWNT.”

“I’ll give you that, but we are in no way shape or form, back to being on good terms. In fact, I’m not sure if we ever will be.”

“Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“NO!” Kelley and Ashlyn both look at each other, knowing the voice who answered the question.

Kelley stands and turns to face her ex-wife that she hasn’t seen since the day she left Georgia.

“Hope.”

“Kelley.”

“You look good, I like the hair.”

“You look good too, then again I always thought you looked good.”

“Me looking good didn’t stop you from cheating on me all those years ago.”

“Kel, focus, can we talk about us and that at another time, right now we are here about our daughters.”

“Yeah, our daughters, right.” Kelley continues to stare at Hope and take deep breaths, feeling that familiar fluttering inside in her when the former goalkeeper is near.

“So, Harris, you’re lucky I had a long flight to calm down and think about things otherwise, Kelley would be calling for an ambulance right now. No one hurts my kids and gets away with it.” Hope walks towards Ashlyn and the blonde keeper looks as though she is going to be sick.

“Kel, remember what used to happen to our teammates when they were late or showed up out of shape.”

“Yep, I ended up at the short end of that on more than one occasion, I seem to recall you were guilty of it a few times as well Hopey.”

“I was only ever late because you didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning.”

“Still don’t.”

“Nice to know some things never change.”

“Should I leave the two of you alone to chat?”

“Sit down and shut up Harris.”

“Now, Kel, did you bring some workout clothes and cleats?”

“You know I did, you?”

“Of course.”

They both look at Ashlyn, “Meet us on the field in an hour, bring some water.”

Kelley and Hope walk out of the office and down the hall together, “I don’t suppose you picked up a rental, Kel? I need to find a hotel and check-in and have no wheels.”

“I have a car and a room with two beds in it. You are more than welcome to share it will be just like old times.”

“We only would have used one of those beds in the old times.”

“Are you with anyone right now, Hope?”

“No, I’ve had a few relationships through the years, but no one ever got me the way that you did.”

“I came close to settling down once, but she cheated on me with her ex. I was never good at the whole dating thing.”

“No, you weren’t but I seem to recall you being extremely good at something.”

“Hope, we seriously can’t be talking about sleeping together, there’s so much wrong with that idea.”

“Alright then let’s put Harris through the paces, let me check in with Mia and then we can talk back at the hotel.”

“Deal.”

Arriving at the hotel, Kelley leads the way to her room with Hope behind her. She opens the door with her card and walks in, “Bed by the door is yours. You always preferred that one, right?”

“You remembered.”

“I remember a lot of good and bad things about us Hope.” Kelley unzips her suitcase and pulls out some clothes, “I’m going to get changed in the bathroom.” She heads in and shuts the bathroom door behind her.

Hope sets her bag down and gets out some workout stuff, and the cleats she brought along. She quickly changes out of her travel clothes and into the workout clothing before pulling a hoodie and track pants on top.

Kelley comes out in just a T-shirt and shorts and Hope can’t help but stare at her.

“Like what you see?”

Hope nods before turning away and allowing Kelley to pull on extra clothes.

“I’m already, are you?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then let’s do it.”

They collect their stuff and Kelley drives them back to the school. She pulls out her bag from the backseat and leads Hope in the direction of the fields.

“I should check on Mia first.”

“Why don’t we both send the girls a message and ask them to meet us afterwards.”

“Okay.”

When they get to the field they see Ashlyn stretching out. They all start off jogging and getting warmed up.

“You know how this works Harris.”

“Yep, suicides, push-ups, sit-ups, burpees and then more suicides.”

“All that and then we are adding our own twist to it, we are each firing 50 shots at you.”

“And then will we be good?”

“Nope, you are taking us out for drinks tomorrow night.”

“That’s not fair, you guys can drink anyone under the table.”

“Yep, now get moving.”

They yell at Ashlyn to run faster as she completes her first set of full-field suicides breathing hard, “You don’t get to use the old excuse of being a keeper with us, get running.”

“Let’s go, Harris, we haven’t got all night.”

“Can I have a break?”

Kelley throws her water bottle towards her, “You got 5 minutes.”

“Time’s up, back to it.”

A little while later, Ashlyn finally straps on her gloves and slowly walks towards the goal where Kelley and Hope have already started lining up balls.

“You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Ashlyn takes her place as both former players start firing balls at her. She stands there as watches as they fly past her.

“Guess what? Because you didn’t even bother to try and stop them, we are now moving closer and going another round. Ready, Kel?”

“Always.”

“Crap.”

Kelley and Hope continue to fire away on Ashlyn even beyond the number of shots they said. They finally decide to stop when the tattooed former keeper struggles to get back up.

Kelley runs over and collects something for her bag and hands it to Hope.

“No! No way I didn’t agree to that!” Ashlyn yells at them and they laugh.

“Sucks to be you, Harris, because there’s not a chance in hell that you can outrun us right now. Don’t worry we’ll send Ali a message letting her know where you are.”

After working together, Kelley and Hope manage to catch Ashlyn and begin duct taping her to the goal post, “You guys are evil.”

“You should know better than to piss off a mama bear or in this case two mama bears.”

Kelley and Hope leave Ashlyn taped up tight to the post, but not before taking a couple of pictures and sending one to Ali.

“Do you want me to come with you to speak with Mia or?”

“I’ll be okay, Kel, but thanks for the offer.”

“This has been fun, the two of us back together again.”

“It has been.”

“I’ll be in Ava’s room when you’re ready to go back to the hotel.”

Hope nods before making her way to the Blue dorm to finally have a chat with her daughter. 

Kelley knocks on Ava and Lexa’s door and Lexa opens it letting her in.

“Ava?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry for everything.”

Ava walks over to Kelley and hugs her, “It’ll be okay Mom, we’ll get through this. Why are you all sweaty?”

“Well, Hope and I decided to have a little gun at Ashlyn’s expense. She may or may not still be duct-taped to the goal post.”

“Remind me never to get on your bad side. So, what are you doing here?”

“Hope is talking with Mia and I wanted to come and check on you before we headed back to the hotel.”

“We?”

“I offered to share my hotel room with her.”

“MOM!”

“Woah, cool your jets kid, there are two beds in the room and it’s more cost-effective for us to share.”

“Do we need to have a talk about what could possibly happen between the two of you in a confined space?”

“Nothing is going to happen we are both adults and capable of behaving as such.” 

“Hey, Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Use protection.”

“Ava Elisabeth, have you been speaking to your Aunt again?”

“No, but I’m sure she will have a few words when she finds out that you and your first love are sharing a hotel room.”

“So, are you guys ready for the scrimmage tomorrow against the Blue team?”

“Way to change the topic, Mom.”

Hope knocks on the door with her daughter’s name and it’s opened by a girl who she assumes to be Mia’s roommate, “Is Mia here?”

“Yeah, she just went to the washroom, she should be right back, come on in. I’m Sam, by the way. I’m a big fan of yours.”

“Thank you, Sam.”

Hope looks around the small room and smiles when she sees a picture of her and Mia after her High School team won the Championship.

The door opens and Mia enters the room, “Mom, what are you doing here?”

“I sent you a message saying I was here and that I would come by later to speak with you.”

“Yeah, I guess I just figured that it was getting late so I’d see you in the morning.”

“I’m sorry for coming so late, but I needed to take care of a few things before I came to see you. I know you have questions and I promise I will do my best to answer them.”

“Ava already told me Kelley’s version of things, I want to hear yours. Sam, do you think you could go for a walk or something?”

“I’ll go and see if anyone is in the movie room.”

Sam leaves Hope and Mia alone to talk.

“Did you really cheat on Kelley?”

“I did and not a day has gone by that I haven’t regretted it.”

“Why did you do it?”

“Kelley losing our son affected us both, we pushed each other away rather than trying to help each other through it. I justified my actions at the time by saying that she had abandoned me and our marriage.”

“Do you still care about her?”

“After seeing her today, I realized that she still owns a piece of my heart.”

“Mom, do you think there’s a chance of anything happening between you and Kelley?”

“Kel and I have always had this connection that defied words, I felt it today. But enough about me, I need to know how you are doing with everything.”

“I’m processing. Ava and I spent a good chunk of the day together and talked about a lot of stuff, it’s so cool to finally have someone I can really talk too. You know she is a really good goalkeeper, we played together today.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing both of you play tomorrow, although I’m now torn as to which side to cheer for.”

Sam returns to the room, “Sorry, but it’s getting close to lights out and I didn’t want to get in trouble for being out of the room.”

“It’s okay, I should be going now, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hope hugs Mia, “I love you, Mom.” “Love you too, now get some sleep.”

Hope heads towards the door, “Goodnight Sam, thank you for looking after Mia; I know how much of a pain she can be at times.”


	9. Chapter 9

Kelley and Hope arrive back at their hotel and each takes a turn in the bathroom getting changed and ready for bed.

Laying in the dark, neither of them are finding it easy to fall asleep with everything running through their heads.

“Kel, are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“Our daughters are beautiful, aren’t they?”

“They are, but that’s mostly because they have my genes and I still look good for my age.”

Hope laughs, “I’ve missed you, Kel.”

“I’ve missed you too, Hopey.”

“You know you are the only person who I’ve ever allowed to call me that.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“If you must.”

“I was just thinking that now that the girls have met they aren’t going to want to be separated again; what are we going to do about that?”

“How about we see how the next few days go and then have a family meeting about everything.”

“Ok, that sounds like a good idea. Goodnight, Hope.”

“Goodnight, Kelley.”

The next morning after showering, getting dressed and stopping for breakfast they head back towards the campus to observe the days events, which in this case is the first Red vs. Blue scrimmage session.

They enter the staff office to check in with Ali. They find her and Alex sitting and chatting over their morning cup, but no sign of Ashlyn.

“How’s the wife this morning, Kriegs?”

“Let’s just say that Kyle has 3 children to look after today. I don’t know what you guys did to her, but she was apologizing for anything and everything she’s ever done wrong on the way home. Also, you wrecked her favourite shirt with your tape job.”

Kelley and Hope laugh and look at each other, “Harris, should be happy that we taped over her clothing otherwise I guarantee she would have been in a world of pain having it ripped away.”

“Out of curiosity Kriegs how long did you leave her there for?”

“Long enough for Kyle to bring the kids and us to do a photoshoot with her. Thinking about using the pics for our Christmas cards.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“No, I wouldn’t, but I threatened her with it. I think she is going to be on her best behaviour for quite a while. Hope being as though Ash is laid up, can I interest you in being a guest instructor today working with the keepers?”

“Won’t that be an issue with Ava being one of them?”

“Alex already spoke with her at breakfast about it and she was excited about being able to work with you.”

Hope turns to face Kelley, “Are you okay with it?”

“Regardless of everything that has gone on, she is your daughter Hope and I can’t think anyone better than one of the best all-time to teach her.”

“Thanks, Kel.”

An alarm goes off on Ali’s phone, “Time to get started, Hope, why don’t you come with me and we can get the keepers going through their warm-ups.”

Ali picks up her bag as does Hope and they head out of the room, leaving Alex and Kelley behind.

“How are you doing with everything, Worms?”

“It’s been a lot to take in, that’s for sure.”

“What’s going on between you and Hope?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know there is history between the two of you but please tell me you aren’t thinking about acting on it; you have a good life and don’t need to do anything this week to screw that up.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing or not doing right now; all I know is that when she looks at me and smiles it takes me back to all those years ago. I never stopped loving her and just being around her is bringing back the butterflies.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually asking this, but do you think she feels the same?”

“She’s never been the easiest person to read, but I think it’s possible.”

“I think that right now your focus should be on the girls not on the two of you rehashing the past. Now, I need to get out to the field, you coming?”

“Right behind you, just like our playing days. You still got a nice looking backside Alex.”

“Now, you’re starting to sound like the KO of old.”

“Did you just call me old?”

“Yes, now let’s go.”

Kelley takes a seat in the bleachers and watches the training taking place. After a while she can’t resist the urge any longer to get a closer look at the goalkeeper training. She tries to remain impartial and off to the side but can’t hold back cheering when Ava comes up with a nice diving save off a shot. She notices Hope smile and tap their daughter on the arm after she stands back up.

After taking a water break, they set up for the Red vs Blue scrimmage. With both teams having enough players to make up two entire teams. They call out names to break them up.

“KO?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to help Coach the Red 2 Squad against the Blue 2 Squad?”

“On it!”

Kelley walks with Ava and the rest of the Red team to the second field, while Alex walks with the Blue team.

“How was training with Hope?”

“She knows a lot, she helped me with my positioning and reading the play. She was asking about you, you know.”

“Like what?”

“Just general stuff, relationship status, job status, asked about Erin and Grandma and Grandpa.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That she should take you out for supper and ask you herself. Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Fire away kiddo.”

“How did you know that you liked a girl as more than just a friend?”

“Are you talking about Lexa?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’m your Mom, it’s my job to know. And as for the rest of it, do you find yourself looking at and watching her for no reason? Smiling more when you’re around her? Wanting to be close to her or touching her? Butterflies?”

“Yes, to all of those.”

“Seems to me like you have a crush on your roomie, kid.”

“What do I do about it, Mom? We’re only here for another few days and then Lexa will be heading back to Boston and us to Atlanta.”

“Relationships are hard Ava, and adding distance between partners makes it even harder; if you really want to give it a go with Lexa then we’ll figure it out. But first, do you know if she feels the same?”

“Mia told me that she does.”

“How does Mia know?”

“When Sam and Lexa were hanging out, she told her and then Sam told Mia, who told me.”

“And suddenly I’m back in high school.”

Ava pushes Kelley, “C’mon, Mom, be serious.”

“I’m always serious.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m not, but right now I’m being serious in telling you to get your butt on that field and show everyone what you can do.”

Ava hugs her, “Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

Following the scrimmages, they all walk back towards the campus.

“I can’t believe we lost.”

Alex pulls Ava aside and tells the others to keep walking, including Kelley.

“The scrimmage wasn’t about winning or losing, we assembled the teams in an attempt to see if the players we have singled out would rise to the top, which a few of them did including you and Mia. Keep working hard and you’ll be the starting keeper in the main game.”

Ava hugs Alex, “Thanks Auntie … Alex.”

Ava runs ahead and catches up with Lexa, Sam and Mia.

With the girls spending the rest of the afternoon in class, Kelley and Hope decide to head back to their hotel and chill out by the pool before joining Ashlyn and Ali for supper.

Kelley steps out of the bathroom wearing a two-piece set that leaves very little to the imagination and Hope drooling at the sight of her.

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, us and bikinis by the pool.” Kelley wraps a towel around herself.

“It probably isn’t but right now I can’t find it in me to object to it.”

“Keep it in your pants, Solo.”

Hope collects her stuff, “Let’s go before we both need cold showers.”

Hope watches on as guys keep approaching Kelley in her lounger and flirting with her and sending her drinks. Hope tries to control the emotions that are running through her as her ex-wife flirts back. When Kelley shines one of her megawatt grins towards one of the muscle clad losers, Hope can’t take it anymore and dives into the pool to cool off and attempt to regain her composure.

Resurfacing she sees Kelley talking to an attractive woman and it sends her over the edge. She climbs out of the pool, collects her stuff and heads back to the hotel room.

Stripping out of her bathing suit and underneath the shower head as the water runs down her body, so do the tears. “Get it together Solo, she isn’t yours anymore; you screwed everything up when you opened your legs to another.”

Knock, Knock

“Hope? Are you okay? You left without telling me.”

“I’m fine, just wasn’t feeling that well; decided to come back to the room and lay down for a bit.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I said I was fine, Kelley, I don’t need anything from you or anyone else!”

“Ok then, you don’t need to go all bitch mode on me; I was only trying to help.”

Hope steps out of the shower and bathroom wrapped in a towel and looks at a deflated Kelley sitting on the bed. She walks over and sits down beside her.

“You’re getting me all wet.”

“You never seemed to mind that before.”

Kelley snickers at the comment.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, Kel.”

“It’s ok.”

Hope takes Kelley’s hand, “No, it’s not okay; it’s never been okay. I’m so sorry for everything Kel, you have no idea how much I regret what I did and how we ended.”

Kelley reaches up and wipes away the tear rolling down Hope’s face, “It took me plenty of hours on the couch to truly understand what happened between us; it was both of our faults, Hopey, not just yours. I’ve long since forgiven you; you need to forgive yourself.”

Looking at each other, they both know what’s coming and lean into it, allowing their lips to meet for the first time in a very long time. They separate and smile at each other, so caught up in the moment is Hope that she doesn’t realize her towel has come undone and her chest is now on full display.

Hope quickly covers herself back up, “I wasn’t finished reading what your tattoo said, not to mention admiring the girls.”

Hope stands up and heads towards her suitcase to pick out clothes, “Do we need to dress up for supper?”

“Kriegs picked the restaurant.”

“That would be a yes then.”

“Yep.”


	10. Chapter 10

In the meantime, while the adults are out for supper, the children are playing as Ava, Mia, Sam and Lexa are sitting the middle of the Red team members floor chatting and joking around with each other.

“You guys want to play Truth or Dare?”

Mia can tell her sister is uncomfortable with the suggestion, “Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to do anything that would get you kicked out of here. Relax, Sis, it’s all good.”

Ava looks over at Lexa, who nods, “Okay, I’m in.”

Mia turns to face her roomie, “Sam, Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to run up and down the hallway yelling that the Blue team rules.”

“Really? That’s all you got? Fine. I’ll be back.” Sam runs up and down the hall yelling causing them all to laugh at her before they return to the room.

“Lexa, Truth or Dare?”

“Umm, truth, I guess.”

“Do, you like Ava as more than a friend?”

Lexa stands up and takes off out of the room, with Ava close behind.

“Sam, that wasn’t cool.”

“If it were up to the two of them, they would spend the next few days going in circles around it; I was just trying to speed up the process.”

Mia leaves her roommate sitting on the floor and goes off in search of her sister and roommate. She hears voices in the stairwell and can’t stop herself from smiling when she sees Ava and Lexa hug and then look at each other hesitantly before kissing. Mia heads back to their room to collect her own roommate before heading back to their own room in the Blue dorms.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Am I not allowed to smile?”

“Mia, I know you well enough to know that you don’t freely smile; so what’s up? OMG, it worked, didn’t it?”

Mia smiles and nods, “I have a feeling they would appreciate having their room back and it’s getting close to lights out time, let’s go.”

Sam and Mia head back to their room as Ava and Lexa walk back towards their own room.

Ava and Lexa sit down on Ava’s bed holding hands, “I’m glad you were my first kiss, Lex.” “You are the first girl I’ve ever kissed and I have to say your lips are a lot softer than the boys were.”

“My Mom has always preached to me about having Chapstick handy, now I think I know why.”

“Does your Mom know about you or us?”

“I told her that I liked you.”

“You like me, huh?”

“I do, don’t let it go to your head now Johnson.”

Lexa laughs at her, “Did you happen to also tell your Mom, who my Mom is?”

“No, it didn’t come up. But something tells me that parents day is about to get a lot more interesting.”

“Our Moms are cool with each other though, right? Because the last thing we need is to have to deal with more Mom issues.”

“I’m too tired to even respond to that comment.”

“Did you know they are mixing up the teams again for our scrimmage tomorrow?”

“Yeah, maybe we’ll actually be on the same team this time.”

“Why do you think they’re doing that?”

“Don’t forget that the entire reason we are here is to be evaluated for consideration towards the US development program, everything they do is meant to test us in some way or another. It’s only logical that they would switch up the lineups to see how everyone handles the changes and if they affect the amount of communication between players.”

“You’re lucky you’re only competing with 5 other girls as a goalkeeper.”

“I’m not. I’m competing with thousands of other girls in the US just like you are.”

Ava collects her toiletry bag and clothes and heads to the washroom to get changed for bed. When she returns she gets comfy in bed and scrolls through social media on her phone, once Lexa heads to get changed, Ava sends Kelley a message

New Message

Ava: Lexa and I kissed.

Kelley hears her phone beep and takes a look at what her screen says before sending a response

Mom: How was it? 

Ava: Really good.

Mom: Do you need to talk about it?

Ava: I’m okay, Mom and yes, I know you will want all the details later.

Mom: It’s not every day my daughter gets her first kiss, of course, I want details!!

Ava: I’m going to sleep now, we’ll talk tomorrow. Love you.

Mom: Love you too. Use protection! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

“What’s got you all smiley, KO?” Kelley looks across the table at Ashlyn and Ali.

“My little girl isn’t so little anymore.”

“Do I need to go have a talk with someone about staying away from Ava?”

“Chill Hopey, I don’t mean it that way, she got her first kiss.”

“Awww. Wait, Ava likes girls? And who did she kiss?”

“Yes, and that information isn’t mine to share.”

“Probably, Lexa then.” Everyone looks at Ali who said it.

“How?”

“Lexa wouldn’t leave her side when she found out about Mia, it only makes sense as the two of them have become pretty close since then.”

Kelley looks at Hope, “What about Mia?”

“Well, considering I caught her making out with one of our neighbours’ sons, I’m going to say straight. He was one of the reasons I was glad that Mia would be away for a couple of weeks. Matt is bad news, he’s 16 and she came home one day after hanging with him smelling like beer.”

“You’ve had the talk with her right?”

“Yes, Kelley we’ve had the talk. What about you and Ava?”

“Yep, even bought condoms, but I guess she probably won’t be needing those now.”

“Never know, things could change.”

“True.”

“So, I can’t help but notice that the two of you seem to be getting along quite well and from what I hear are even sharing a hotel room. Any chance of a reconciliation?”

Hope leans in towards Ashlyn and locks eyes with her, “I would strongly suggest you avoid talking about our personal lives unless you want to find yourself taped to the goal post again, and this time we won’t be nice and tape on your clothes.”

“Yes, Hope.” Ashlyn looks down at the table.

“Harris, make yourself useful and go and get us another round.”

Ashlyn moans and groans as she stands up and slowly walks over to the bar.

“Hopey, can you please tone down the ‘tude on Ash?”

“Kel, c’mon she interfered with our lives, big time.”

Kelley reaches for Hope's hand, “For me?”

“Alright, but if she mentions the girls or us again all bets are off.”

“That’s fair.”

Hope stands up, “Which way is the washroom, Kriegs?” Ali points to the far corner and Hope leaves just Ali and Kelley at the table.

Kelley looks around to make sure she is out of ears reach before spitting out to Ali that they kissed.

“Really? So is there a chance for an O’Solo reunion?”

“I don’t know Kriegs, there is just so much history between us, both good and bad.”

“Have you thought about the girls and their futures? Now that they have each other they aren’t going to want to be separated again.”

“I know, Hope and me need to talk about everything. I don’t want to move from Georgia, and it sounds like perhaps Mia isn’t surrounded by the best influences in Seattle. Maybe Hope will allow her to come and live with us.”

“She isn’t going to give her up that easily.”

“I’m not asking for her to give her up, just give her a chance to get to know her sister and the rest of her family.”

“Good luck with selling that. Hope has always been based on the West Coast, it’s where her family is.”

“I agree, Kriegs, the girls really did play well in the scrimmage earlier.” Ali notices Ashlyn and Hope making their way back to the table.

“Based on the comps, Ava is ranking at #2 in the goalkeepers while Mia is #5 for defenders. We are going to re-evaluate after the scrimmage tomorrow and then once again after they complete their testing, to see who will be playing in the final game.”

Kelley looks at the two former keepers to her right, “Do you think Ava has the skillset to be a #1?”

“She’s only been a keeper for two years, Kel, she is good now, but with more specialized training she will be really good.”

“What about Mia?”

“Her attitude has always been her downfall. She has never been overly dedicated to training, but I’ve noticed in the two days since we’ve been here that she is smiling and having fun out there and working hard. She even volunteered to stay after the scrimmage and help gather up everything.”

Ali nods, “Alex mentioned that to me.”

“What about Lexa and Sam, where do they fit in?”

“Lexa has been improving as the camp has gone on but Sam has struggled.”

“Is there anything we can do to help her?”

“I can’t break confidence, but I will tell you that it isn’t a lack of skill that is holding her back.”

“Okay, enough shop talk. We haven’t seen each other for quite a while, let’s play catch up.”

A few hours later and several drinks later and Kelley and Hope are feeling the effects as they make their way back to the hotel in the back of an Uber.

After paying the driver they head up to their room, Kelley struggles to get the door to open, so Hope steps in to help and in the process places her hand over top of Kelley’s.

“Hope?”

“Yeah, Kel?”

“Can I have my hand back?”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Hope?”

“Yes, Kel?”

“I really want to kiss you, can I?”

“We’ve both been drinking, it’s not a good idea.”

“Since when have we ever played by the rules?” The height difference between the two becomes more obvious as Kelley stands on her tippy toes to kiss Hope.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP

Hope reaches over to turn the beeping off but finds a body between her and it. Leaning over a still sleeping Kelley, she is able to shut off the beeping before she throws the phone across the room.

She looks down at her ex-wife and smiles thinking about the events of the previous night and early morning. “Kel, coffee is on me if you wake up now.”

“Umm, coffee.” Kelley turns over and looks at Hope, “Last night wasn’t a dream, huh?”

“If it was, then I had the same one.” Hope leans forward and kisses her gently, “I’m grabbing a shower, you’re welcome to join me.”

“Well, in the interest of water conservation.” Kelley follows Hope into the shower, where they become reacquainted with each other’s bodies once more.

Making the walk together to the campus and office they promise not to mention a word about what happened between them to anyone.

Walking in Ashlyn looks them over from head to toe and turns to Ali, “You owe me $20 bucks, Babe.” 


	11. Chapter 11

“Why am I not surprised that you guys bet on us?” Ashlyn shrugs.

“What is the schedule for today?” Hope turns to look at Ali.

“The girls should be heading to breakfast very soon, then the rest of the day will be their final physical assessments with tomorrow being the Red vs. Blue game and the wrap up afterwards. We have things under control, why don’t the two of you hit the beach today?”

“Is that your way of nicely telling us to get lost Kriegs?”

Ali nods, “I don’t want the girls to feel pressured to perform during the assessments.”

“That’s fair. Alright, call us if you need us.”

“We won’t, now go away O’Solo.”

Hope, Kelley and Ali all glare at Ashlyn as she says it then bust out laughing at her reaction.

“It’s all good Harris, look after our girls.”

Kelley and Hope walk back out and head towards the parking lot, “Are we really going to the beach, Hope?’

“In a little while, I know how much you can’t wait to hit the waves, but first we need to talk about some stuff.”

“You’re not regretting what happened last night are you?”

Hope smiles and shakes her head.

They head to a nearby café and each order a coffee and snack, then find some seats at a table on the deck. 

“Hope, I promised Ava that we would spend a few days here after the camp was over, just enjoying some mother/daughter time and hitting the waves. I would really like to get to know Mia better, with your permission, of course, do you think she could stay with us? You could stay as well.”

“I’ve been thinking about getting to know Ava better as well, if it wouldn’t be too much of an imposition then I would like for all of us to get to know each other better and spend time together. I’ll need to make a couple of calls and do some rescheduling, but this is more important than filming a segment with the Sounders.”

Kelley becomes incredibly quiet a clear indication that something is on her mind.

“Kel, talk to me, what are you thinking about?”

“You, me, us, them. I can’t help but think about what could have been rather than what was or is.”

“I know, I can’t help but wonder if I hadn’t made the decision, I did, if we would still be a family and raising our beautiful daughters together like we had always planned.”

“I don’t think we would be.” Hope looks at Kelley when she says it. “Explain.”

“I mean, that in terms of age we were adults, but maturity-wise we weren’t. Rather than addressing our problems we both chose to run and hide from each other. Our relationship was never going to work out until we both grew up. I loved you but a lot of the time I didn’t like you or the stuff you did.”

“Is this going to be about me buying that motorcycle?”

“You made the choice to buy a death machine without even talking to me about it first and just about killed yourself with it.”

“You’re right. I think we both made some questionable choices back then and communication was never our strong suit. We were kids when we fell in love and didn’t know what we were doing. I have never regretted the time we had together, Kel, nor will I ever, you were my first love and no one since has even compared. Last night was the most alive I’ve felt in a very long time, Kel, I have a question for you and I don’t want an answer until you’ve really thought about it, okay?”

Kelley nods

“Putting aside everything that has happened in the past for a minute, do you think there is the possibility of us making a go of things in the future, together?”

“What do you mean a go of things?”

“I mean us putting our family back together.”

“Hope, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“Kel, if you can tell me right to my face that you aren’t feeling the same things I am right now, then I will drop the idea of us completely and we can go back to trying to figure out the best arrangement for the girls.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Yes, do all the thinking you need, talk to Alex or whoever else you choose, I don’t want an answer until you are ready to give it to me.”

“Can we go back to the hotel, now?”

They drive back to the hotel in quiet, “I’m going to go for a walk, I’ll be back in a while.” Kelley nods letting Hope know she heard her.

Heading to their room, Kelley wastes little time calling her sister Erin

“How’s Florida, Squirrel? You remembered to put on sunblock this time, right? We don’t need you coming back looking like a lobster again.”

“Er, I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, crap, what’s going on? Is Ava, okay?”

“Ava is fine, so is Mia. Me, not so much.”

“What did Hope do now?”

“It’s not really anything she did, it’s more that I’m confused by what I’m thinking and feeling about her and everything.”

“Take some breaths and talk to me.”

“I’m still in love with her and we kinda slept together last night.”

“Well, that’s one way to get out of your slump. Was it better than your battery-powered friend?”

“Sooo much better, then again we were always good at that.”

“Okay, so you got that out of your system, so what’s the next step?”

“We are going to spend a few days here with the girls, getting to know each other better.”

“Okay, I follow, then after that, what’s the plan?”

“Not sure yet, I would like to ask Hope about the possibility of Mia coming to live with Ava and me, but I’m kind of scared to approach the topic with her.”

“Still intimidated by the big bad keeper huh?”

“A little, yes. But, she asked me about the possibility of an us in the future.”

“Damn, you must still have it in bed if she’s talking about the future.”

“What should I do, Erin?”

“Don’t follow your heart, follow your head. You and I both know that Hope still has a place in your heart, you need to decide for yourself the long-term implications of your actions, not only for you but the girls as well. They got caught between the two of you before, you can’t do that to them again.”

“I get it, thanks. Think I’m going to go for a run on the beach and try and clear my head. I’ll message you later.”

“Ok and Kel?”

“Yeah?”

“Use protection.”

Erin hangs up from the call before Kelley can respond to the comment. She gets herself changed and heads out for a run, leaving Hope a note just in case she returns in the meantime.

Meanwhile not so far away, Hope is on her phone with Carli seeking advice about her current circumstances.

“Of all the stupid things you could do, the two of you sleep together.”

“It was inevitable Carl, there was way too much tension between us.”

“And what are you planning to do now?”

“I already asked her if she thought there was a possibility of a future where we were together.”

“And her response?”

“She’s thinking it over.”

“You do realize all the strings attached to the question right? You live on opposite sides of the US, have established lives and careers there, not to mention the girls, how and where do they fit in?”

“My contract with the Network is expiring soon and I haven’t decided yet if I want to sign on for another year with them. Seeing my daughters side by side and happy makes me really not want too. I think when I get back home, I’m going to put out some feelers with other Networks or maybe I can do some freelance stuff for a while.”

“I take it that you didn’t share this information with Kelley?”

“No, things are complicated enough right now, without me adding a U-Haul situation to the mix.”

Carli laughs, “Never thought I’d hear the Hope Solo, cracking a U-Haul comment.”

“Yeah, well maybe being around Kelley again has helped lighten me up a bit.”

“Sounds like it. I have to head to a meeting with my editor now, but I’ll message you later. Give my love to Mia, Bye Hope.”

Bye Carl.”

Back on campus the girls are finished their testing and making their way back to the dorms to shower and change before having lunch.

“How are you still moving?”

Mia looks at Sam on the floor and laughs at her, “If I wasn’t I’m sure that my Mom would be here kicking my ass right now.”

“You’re lucky you have her, and now Ava and her Mom as well.”

“Sam, can I ask you something?”

“I guess.”

“You said you wouldn’t have anyone here for family day, can I ask why?”

“I don’t have any family.”

“You have to have some family.”

“I don’t. I’m a ward of the State. I live in a home with a couple and 5 other kids.”

“You don’t have a Mom or Dad?”

“I never knew my Dad and my Mom died from an overdose. I came home from school one day and found her dead on the couch. The neighbour called the cops and social services and they couldn’t find anyone to take me, so I ended up in my first home 2 years ago. The one I’m in currently is the fourth place I’ve lived.”

“How did you end up here then?”

“The church I go to took up a collection and I guess the State chipped in as well.”

“When the camp is over, you are going back to that place.”

“I guess so unless they decide to move me around again; I hope they don’t because at least there I have my own room. I’ll catch you after, I can’t stand the smell of myself, so I better head to the shower before all the warm water is used up.”

“I’ll be right behind you, just want to check in with my Mom first.”

Mia calls Hopes number but it rings until her voicemail comes on

“Hey Mom, can you call me or come by my room, I need to talk to you about something, it’s important.” 


	12. Chapter 12

Back at the hotel, as Kelley returns from her run and grabs a shower, Hope listens to the message that Mia left.

Hope enters the hotel room with the intention of borrowing Kelley’s rental car and going to see Mia. Hearing the shower running, she knocks on the bathroom door, “Kel, can I take the car?”

“Where?”

“I need to go and see Mia.”

“Can you wait until I’m dressed, I was planning on going to see Ava as well.”

“Alright, can you hurry up, please.”

“You can’t rush perfection, Hopey.”

“That’s it, I’m taking the car.”

“Wait, for me!”

Hope shakes her head as Kelley comes running out of the bathroom in a towel, “How old are you?”

“Old enough.” Kelley drops her towel and walks towards Hope. “Kel, no. Things are complicated enough right now between us, we don’t need to add more fuel to the fire.”

Kelley nods, “Give me 10 to finish getting ready and we can go.” She heads over to her suitcase and pulls out what she needs before heading back into the bathroom to finish up.

Driving back to the campus, Kelley offers to join Hope for her chat with Mia.

“I appreciate the offer, Kel, but if Mia is actually asking to speak with me, then it has to be about something she deems really important because I usually have to poke and prod to get her to talk to me.”

“Okay, I understand, call or message if you need me, I’ll be with Ava.”

They head in separate directions, as Kelley makes her way to Ava’s room, she sees a familiar face, “Mewwy!” The two former players hug, “What are you doing here, Sammy?”

“My daughter is on the Red team, I’m here to watch the final tomorrow, you?”

“Same.”

They start to catch up as they walk, “It’s funny that Ava didn’t mention to me that she was on the same team as ….? I’m drawing a blank on your daughter’s name.”

“Alexandra or as she prefers, Lexa.”

“Your daughter is Lexa?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, … actually I’m going to leave that right there and let her tell you.”

“KO, you need to tell me what you know.”

“It’s nothing bad, Sammy, I promise.”

Kelley points to a door, “Oh, look we’re here.”

Sammy looks at the paper on the door, “So, they’re roommates?” Kelley smiles and nods. Sammy shrugs accepting the new information. With the door being propped open they chose to just walk in rather than announce their presence.

Kelley lets Sammy enter first and hears a, “What the…” come out of her former teammate's mouth as she finds the two girls sitting on a bed kissing.

Ava and Lexa separate at the noise and look at the door, “Mom?” Lexa stands up and walks over to Sammy and hugs her, “I thought you weren’t coming in until later.”

“Kris and Rach changed the flight, so they could enjoy some beach time.”

“They’re here too?”

Sammy nods, “So, are you planning on explaining what we just walked in on? I’m going to assume by KO’s lack of reaction, she had an idea about it.”

“What’s to explain? Ava and I like each other.” Sammy looks at Kelley who is smiling and nodding.

“KO, would it possible for you and Ava to go for a walk so Lexa and I can talk?”

Kelley nods, “Get some shoes on kid.”

Ava grabs her shoes, phone and key before heading out of the room with her Mom.

“Where are we going, Mom?”

“Where ever our feet take us. I have a feeling that Sammy and Lexa are going to be having a long chat.”

“She knows about sex already, Mom.”

“Not that chat kiddo, it’s the one we should also have about how difficult it is to be in a same-sex relationship and the public perception of it.”

“Why does it matter what others think though Mom? Shouldn’t it just be about everyone being happy?”

“Ideally, yes, but unfortunately, it’s not the case. Hope and I faced a lot of flack when our relationship became public knowledge, I had a couple of sponsors withdraw their support as did Hope, it was a rough road, one that honestly I was hoping I wouldn’t have to travel with you.”

“Are you saying you don’t want me to be like you and like girls?”

“I’m not saying that at all, I want you to be happy and will love and support you regardless; I’m saying that should you chose to be in a relationship with another girl/woman, it may be difficult as the public still holds the old school mentality that a relationship should be between a man and woman and anything outside of that is an abomination.”

Ava laughs, “Look at you using all those big words, does your head hurt now, Mom?”

Kelley laughs and hugs Ava, “Yeah, kind of. Hey Ava, can I ask you something?”

“Is it about you and Hope?”

“How?” Ava looks at Kelley, “Mom, you haven’t stopped smiling since she got here and there is like a bounce in your step, it’s totally cute by the way.”

Kelley looks at her daughter, “I think, I’m still in love with her.”

“And what are you planning on doing about it?”

“She asked me about putting us and our family back together.”

“Really?!?!” Ava looks at Kelley grinning and Kelley nods. “What was your answer?”

“I haven’t told her anything yet.”

“Mom, Grandma has always told me that there is a plan for everyone, we just need to trust that things will happen when they are meant too. Perhaps, you and Hope weren’t meant to be together back then, but instead meant to find you way back to each other when the time was right.”

“Yeah, Grandma has shared that bit of advice with me a few times over the years.

“Maybe it’s time you start listening to your Mom then.” Ava winks at Kelley, who laughs.

They start walking again and talking over things. 

As Kelley and Ava make the rounds of the campus grounds, Hope is sitting down with Mia.

“What did you need to talk to me about, Mia?”

“I need to talk about something, but I’m not sure that I should now, because it’s not my information to share.”

“Is someone in danger or have threats been made, because if so you need to tell me, now.”

“No, no one is in danger.” Hope looks on at her daughter who is in tears and knows it’s something big because Mia very seldom cries. Hope moves over and holds her, “Mom.”

The door opens and Sam enters, seeing Mia crying in her Mom’s arms she freezes not sure what she should do.

“Should I leave?” Sam asks Hope. “No, stay and sit,” Mia responds as she turns to look at her roommate.

“You know what you told me earlier, I need you to tell my Mom.”

“Mia, I thought I could trust you, that was meant to stay between us.”

“I haven’t told her anything, I promise.”

Sam sits down on her bed and stares at the floor.

“Mia, why don’t you go to the cafeteria and get a snack for all of us.” Mia looks at her Mom, before putting her shoes on and heading out the door.

“Sam, I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but Mia obviously cares about you and wants to help, do you feel comfortable talking to me about it?”

“Mia asked me about my family earlier and if they were coming in for family day tomorrow. I told her that I don’t have any family and that I live in a foster home.”

Hope starts to get a better understanding as to why her daughter was upset.

“Tell me about yourself, Sam.”

“Why do you want to know about me?”

“Because I want to know how I can help you.”

“I don’t need anything from you or anyone, I’m just here to play soccer and when it’s over I’ll go back to the home and be forgotten about. Can you please leave now? I just want to be alone.”

“Alright, but Sam I want you to know that I do want to help you.” Hope writes down her number on a napkin and hands it to Sam, “Call or message me, if you feel up to talking. Bye, Sam.” 

Hope heads out of the room and leans against the wall, catching her breath and regaining her composure. She makes the walk to the office and finds Ashlyn, Alex and Ali going over the final lineups for the game tomorrow.

“Hope, Kelley isn’t here, last I saw she was out with Ava.”

“I’m not looking for Kelley, Ali I need to speak with you about something in private.”

“Can it wait, we are a bit busy at the moment.” Hope gives her a look and Ali knows, not to question it or her anymore. “Ash, can you call home and check on the kids and Alex go with her.”

The two former players leave the room. Hope shuts the door behind them.

“What’s got you so worked up Hope? Ava and Mia are both starting tomorrow, so I know it’s not that, so what is it?”

“Sam.”

“You know?”

“Enough, she talked to Mia about it. I need to know what you do about her.”

“Hope, I can’t tell you anything, it’s all confidential.”

“Can, you at least give me a contact and her full name?”

“What are you thinking Hope?”

“I’m thinking that everyone deserves a family.”

“Don’t you think you should be consulting Kelley before you make a decision of this magnitude?”

“We aren’t together, Kriegs, if things change in that respect then I will talk with her about it, but for the time being it is my decision and I’m only looking for information.”

“The two of you really need to sit down and lay all your stuff on the table.”

“We do. We are planning on spending a few days here with the girls, would it be an issue for you and Ash to have them over for supper one night so that we could talk before we leave?”

“You’re sharing a hotel room, why can’t you talk right now?”

“Things are a little awkward between us at the moment.”

“I guess that’s understandable and yes, the girls are always welcome in our house.”

“Thanks, Kriegs and I really am sorry for forcing you and Ash to be in the middle all these years.”

“We love the girls and we love you guys. It’s been difficult at times, keeping the information to ourselves, but now everything is in the open and the healing process has already started; you have two beautiful and talented daughters, don’t fuck it up this time, Hope.”

“I don’t plan on, now can you get me that info or not?”

Ali walks behind her computer and writes down a number and name on a paper, “Don’t let on, you got it from me, okay?”

“No worries, and please keep this between us for the moment, okay?”

“I will, and for what’s it worth, Hope, I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Kriegs.”

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Mia is sitting and eating while awaiting the all-clear to return to her room. Kelley and Ava wander in and join her, “S’up, Sis?”

“Where’s Hope?”

“Mom is talking with Sam.”

“Why aren’t you with her?”

“Because it needed to be a conversation between the two of them. Anyways, what are you guys up to?”

“Giving Lexa and her Mom space to talk.”

“Why would they need space to talk?”

Kelley laughs as her daughter admits to being caught in the act.

“Lex and I were kissing and kinda were interrupted by our Moms."

“And?” Kelley turns towards Ava, “Lexa’s Mom is Sam Mewis.”

“But her last name is Johnson.”

“Father’s name.”

“Oh, right.” Mia looks at Kelley, “You don’t have an issue with Ava and Lexa, now that you know who her Mom is, do you, Kelley?”

“I’ll admit it was a bit of surprise to find out that Ava was getting it on with a Mewis, actually the more I think about it the sooner, I should have clued in, she’s a giraffe-like her Mom; anyways, no I don’t have an issue with it.”

Kelley’s phone buzzes and she looks down at the screen

New Message

Hope: Something important came up, on my way back to the hotel, now. Can you let Mia know if you see her, that I’m looking into things.

Kelley looks at the screen and then Mia

“Hope asked me to let you know, that she is gone back to the hotel and looking into things. What does that mean?”

“For me to know and you to find out. Not so fun being on the opposite end of a secret now, is it?” Mia stands up and walks away from them.


	13. Chapter 13

Kelley watches as Mia leaves the room, “She hates me, doesn’t she?”

Ava looks at her Mom and shakes her head, “You seriously didn’t expect to be greeted with open arms after both you and Hope have been lying to us all our lives, did you?”

Ava stands up and walks away leaving Kelley wide-mouthed in response.

New Message

Worms: Can I come over? I could really use some of your famous advice right now.

Janice: If it’s to do with Hope, I have nothing more to say. You made your bed.

Worms: It’s not about Hope, it’s about the girls.

Janice: Okay, I’ll put some tea on, see you soon.

Worms: Thank you.

Janice: Don’t thank me yet, I have a lot to say in the matter.

Kelley collects her stuff and makes her way out to the car and then to Alex’s house.

Alex opens the door and shakes her head at her, “Have you finally come to your senses?” Kelley wraps her arms around her and cries on her shoulder, “I need to fix this, Al, but I don’t know how too.”

They grab their cups and sit down in Alex’s living room, Kelley looks around at the family pictures on the wall.

“Mia hates me, Alex.”

“And?”

“I think Ava does too.”

Alex laughs, “Ava doesn’t hate you, she loves you; but you fucked up big time, Kel. You are the one person she has always had in her life, her one constant; the person she trusts the most in this world and you kept the knowledge of her having a sister, a twin sister at that, away from her. Did you expect her to carry on as if you didn’t break her trust or her heart? If I were in her position I don’t think I would even be talking to you right now, so consider yourself extremely lucky. Now, as for Mia, she’s hurting the same as Ava, both are feeling betrayed, as they were and you and Hope have targets on your backs; they are going to try and hurt you like they are hurting. They are kids, Worms and they don’t know how to process something of this magnitude, they are doing the best they can, right now.”

“How can I fix this, Alex?”

“There is no quick fix to it. But I think it might be a good idea for you and Hope to table whatever is going on between the two of you and start actually talking to your daughters. They need to know that they aren’t alone in this and that you are going to do whatever it takes to help them. You need to acknowledge what you did to them and how it has affected them before you can even attempt to start to go forward.”

“Clearly you’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this.”

“I have and so should you have, but instead your response was to fall back into old patterns of behaviour rather than address the issues at hand.”

“You’re right. Thanks, Janice.” Kelley hugs Alex. “You know I will always love you, Worms but right now I’m not a fan of this version of Kelley O’Hara.”

“Honestly, the more I think about, neither am I. I need to be better.”

Alex smiles and nods, “Learning you are. Now, yours to take the first step is... Wisely choose, my friend.”

“You watched Star Wars again, didn’t you?”

“I can’t help it, Yoda is damn cute.”

Kelley stands up and hugs Alex, “Time to take the first step.” Kelley gets in the car and pulls out her phone, thinking to message and let her know she is coming but deciding against it, in the interest that they may leave before she gets there.

Kelley pulls the rental into a spot on the campus and makes her way to the Blue floor. She finds the room with Mia and Sam’s name on it and knocks. She gets no answer, so she knocks again, harder. The door opens and Mia looks at her, “What do you want?”

“We need to talk. Can I come in or are we going to let everyone listen in on our conversation?” Mia moves to the side to let her come in.

Kelley looks around, “You’re alone?” Mia nods, “Good, now let’s sit and talk.”

They sit on opposite sides of the room, eyeing each other up but not saying anything. Kelley takes a couple of deeps breaths and tries to formulate what to say.

“Are you planning on talking or are we just going to keep staring at each other until one of us blinks.”

Kelley laughs, “Your Mom used to say that to me all the time, when we would have disagreements. It usually ended with us .. oh, yeah not going there with you.”

“Ended with you having sex, I get it. Now, what do really want, Kelley?”

“I want to apologize, for everything; I know there aren’t really any words I can say right now that will make things better between us, but I want you to know that regardless of what has gone on, you are my daughter and I have never stopped loving you. I know you are hurting and that I’m the reason for it and if you don’t want to have anything to do with me in the future I’ll understand, but, if you’ll have me I’d really like to spend time with and get to know the real you and maybe together we can help each other make things better.”

Kelley looks over at Mia who has tears rolling down her face and attempting to wipe them away with her sleeve as she does the same and she can’t help but notice how similar they really are to each other.

“I guess I should go now.” Kelley stands up and walks towards the door, “Kelley, don’t go.” She stops and turns just as a body makes contact with hers, she wraps her arms tightly around Mia as the waterworks take over both of them. They hold on to each other as if their lives depended on it.

Unbeknownst to them, they have an audience of two watching on. One of whom is losing her own battle with tears at the scene in front of her. Sam wraps her arm around Ava and pulls her into her side. Ava moves closer into her and attempts to wipe away the tears and snot running down her face. Sam moves away from her, “Eww, you got snot on me, that’s so gross!” Sam moves over to her suitcase and quickly changes shirts.

“Way to ruin the moment, Sam.” They look at Mia who has now separated from Kelley.

“Should I even ask what was going on in here, before we came?” Ava looks at Mia and her Mom and they both shake their heads and extend their arms to hug her.

Kelley notices Sam looking all awkward at the emotional display, “Sam, come over here and join us, you’re like family now, too.” Sam looks at Mia and Ava who both nod and then joins them in a hug. Kelley kisses both Mia and Ava on the top of the head, “We have a long road ahead of us, but I promise you guys that I will be with you all the way. Things are going to get better for all of us, I feel it.”

Once everyone regains their composure the girls head to the cafeteria to get something to eat as Kelley goes in search of Hope.

In the meantime, Hope has been making phone calls inquiries about Sam and gathering information on how one goes about fostering and or adopting. As she awaits the information being emailed to her, she calls Carli

“Hey, how are you?”

“Good. Carli I need some advice and it’s not to do with Kelley or the girls.”

“Okay, I’m all ears.”

“I’m considering putting in an application to possibly adopt one of the girls at the camp.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?? Did I seriously just hear you say that you are considering adopting while you are currently encircled by nothing but familial drama?” 

“Yep. I know the timing sucks, but Mia and she are really close and she has no one and I’ve got an extra bedroom.”

“Hope, aren’t you the same person who just a couple of days ago mentioned possibly moving to Georgia to allow the girls to get to know each other better and so that you and Kelley could try and rebuild your relationship?”

“Yes, but... Carl.”

“No buts! You need to fix your family first before you consider adding to it. It wouldn’t be fair to her to bring her in when everything is such a mess.”

“I know, it’s just if I don’t then I’m going to feel like I let Mia down.”

“Be honest and upfront with her and she will understand.”

“I get what you’re saying.”

“Hope you and Kelley need to sit down and have a hard talk about everything. Separate the emotions and focus on the facts.”

“I’m planning on doing just that when she gets back here.”

“Good. Call me if you need anything. Bye Hope.”

“Bye Carl.”

Hope sets her phone down and gathers her thoughts as the door to the room opens up and Kelley walks in.

“We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do.”

After finishing eating the girls gather in Ava and Lexa’s room with Lexa now having returned from hanging out with and being questioned by her family members about Ava.

“So, what did I miss?”

Ava, Mia and Sam all look at her, “A lot.”

“I got nothing but time, so fill me in.”

Mia fills them in on the short but meaningful conversation her and Kelley had before Ava and Sam returned.

“I knew that given some time my Mom would come to her senses and try to make things right for us.”

“I hope you know, no pun intended, that my Mom isn’t going to have that conversation with you. She doesn’t really like talking about feelings and stuff.”

“I’m okay with that provided they both smarten the hell up and start acting their age.”

“It’s definitely going to be an interesting next few days. Anyways, I’m feeling drained and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning, Sis.” Mia and Ava hug before Sam and Mia head back to their room for the night.

Ava feels Lexa’s arms wrap around her from behind and she kisses her shoulder, “What some company in your bed tonight?” Ava turns around and kisses Lexa, “Yeah, you can tell me all about your conversation with your Mom and Aunts.”

“Let’s get changed and I’ll tell you all about how Auntie Kris and Auntie Rach seemed to know all along that I liked girls, but in their words, Mom was oblivious to the signs. Also, they want to meet you after the game tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

They change and curl up together on Ava’s bed, talking and making out a bit until both falls asleep.

A little while later, the door to the room opens and a light shines on the beds; Ali takes a step inside to double-check they are both accounted for and smiles when she sees them sound asleep together. Deciding against separating them, she closes the door and moves on to the next room.

In the meantime Ashlyn, doing the bed check for the Blue team, finds Mia and Sam passed out on the floor with their pillows and a laptop. She grabs their blankets off the beds and covers them over before continuing to make her rounds.

Ali meets Ashlyn in the office and kisses her, “Let’s go home, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.”

“Are you too exhausted to …” Ali gives her a grin, “Never too exhausted for that gorgeous.”


	14. Chapter 14

Hope and Kelley look at each other both knowing its time for the hard discussion.

“How about I grab us a pie from the down the street and then we can talk uninterrupted, I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“Okay, do you want me to pick up anything else while I’m out?”

Hope shakes her head. “I’ll be back.”

While Kelley is out getting them something to eat, Hope takes the time to jot down some thoughts and notes on what she wants to talk to Kelley about. Once Kelley gets back they eat and then decide that they need to stop putting off the inevitable conversation.

“Hope, can I start?” Kelley watches for a reaction and when Hope nods she starts talking.

“We can’t go back to the way things were between us. I love you and would like to give us another shot but right now, we need to put us and our relationship on the back burner and start being adults and Moms and make the girls our priority.”

Hope nods, “I agree and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. There is no denying that we still have a strong connection/attraction to each other, but Ava and Mia need their Moms right now more than we need to get laid.” Kelley laughs at her phrasing.

“How are we going to make it work for them being across the country from each other?”

“I have an extra bedroom, Ava could move in with Mia and me.”

“That’s not happening, Hope, if anything it would be better for Mia to move to Georgia with Ava and me.”

“No, I’m not going to have my daughter move across the country from me and move in with you when she barely knows you.”

“Hope, you know I would never do anything to hurt her. I don’t know if you’ve talked to her today but Mia and I actually talked today and I promised her that things were going to be better for everyone. I intend to honour that promise, so we need to figure things out.”

“What about shared custody?”

“What are thinking?”

“Neither one of us wants to give up our daughter, but we both want to get to know the other daughter; how about we plan ahead and arrange time every month that Ava and Mia can get together and hang out and alternate where it happens so that we also get to spend time with and get to know both of them.”

“What about school holidays?”

“Split and alternate, what do you think?”

“I’m liking the direction that this conversation is headed in. Keep talking.”

“If we can make this arrangement work, then maybe we can also revisit the us discussion down the road.”

“Let’s get everything written down and then tomorrow after the game we can have a family meeting and discuss the future with the girls and get their input, it shouldn’t be just us making the decisions for them.”

“Being an adult and doing adultish things is extremely tiring, don’t know about you Hopey, but I’m ready to call it a night.”

“Kel, did you really talk with Mia?”

“I did, she’s got your stubbornness, down pat.”

“I’m not stubborn, I’m just set in my ways and you’re one to talk. You know, she’s got your quick tongue and energy.”

“Yep, I was on the end of a couple of her quick responses today, but deservingly so.”

Hope laughs, “Better get used to it. Kel, would you have an issue if I were to ask about the possibility of Sam joining us for the next few days before we all head home?”

“Isn’t she going to be spending it with her family?”

“Kel, she doesn’t have any family; that’s what Mia needed to speak with me about. She asked me if we could give her a family.”

“Mia asked you about adopting, Sam?”

“Yeah.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“That I would look into things. I talked with Carli about everything and she reminded me how complicated things are right now with us and the girls and that it wasn’t a good time to be even considering it. What do you think?”

“I think that Carli is right, but I also know you well enough to know that you are currently beating yourself up inside, because you want to help her. How about you make the call in the morning and see if the arrangements can be made for her to stay with us and enjoy a couple of beach days before she goes back home. Then we’ll go from there.”

“You said we’ll as in both of us.”

“The way I figure it they might not let you alone take responsibility for her, you don’t exactly have the best public profile but together we can make anything happen.”

“Are you saying that you would be interested in maybe adopting her together?”

“How about we don’t get that far ahead of ourselves, let’s focus on the Red/Blue game and making it so Sam can join us and then we’ll talk about possibly adding to the Solo O’Hara family.”

“You do realize that Solo means one and when you put Solo and O’Hara together it means one O’Hara family, right?”

“We are one family, Hopey, we just need to work together to figure out how all the pieces fit. Now, get some sleep.” 

“Night, Kel.”

“Night, Hopey.”

Beep, beep, beep

“Sam, turn off the alarm, it’s too early.”

Sam opens her eyes and struggles to locate the beeping device before managing to turn it off.

“Thank god!” Mia turns over and looks around, “Why are we on the floor?”

“I’m going to assume we both fell asleep watching the movie last night.”

“Why do you have my blanket? And why do I have yours?”

“I don’t know and that’s way too many questions for this early in the morning.”

“You know what day today is?”

Sam looks at her and yawns, “It’s game day!” Mia turns over and stands up, moaning and groaning at the stiffness she feels from sleeping on the floor. “Get up! I’m going to get changed and then head down for breakfast, are you coming?”

“Do I have to? I’m not starting and I don’t really want to be around the girls and their families.”

“You have Ava, Lexa and me, Sam, and you heard Kelley say that you are like family, so come on and get your big butt moving.”

“My butt isn’t big!”

“Not compared to your chest it isn’t, now come on.”

“What are you doing looking at my chest? I thought you told me that you were straight.”

“I am, doesn’t mean, I can’t check out my competition.” Mia grins at her when she says it.

“Wow, I got an actual Mia Solo smile, I feel so blessed!”

Sam gets up and collects what she needs as she and Mia make their way to the washroom to get cleaned up and changed before heading down for breakfast.

In Ava and Lexa’s room, the alarm has long since gone off, yet neither of them is in a hurry to move. Ava likes the feeling of Lexa holding her close way too much.

Lexa pulls her in tight, “You know if we don’t show up for breakfast soon, they are going to come looking for us.”

“5 more minutes and then we’ll get up.”

“Mmk.”

Knock, knock

“Lexy, you in there?”

“Lexy? Sexy Lexy.”

Ava laughs at the laughing on the other side of the door

“You got 2 seconds to open the door or we’re all coming in.”

Ava tries to move but Lexa holds on to her, “They’re going to come in anyway and give their impression of you and us, so just roll with it.” Lexa kisses her as the door opens.

“Ahh, how cute are the two of you.”

“Sorry Ava, but these two clowns couldn’t wait any longer to meet you.”

“It’s okay.” Ava answers trying once again to get out of the bed, “No, it’s not.”

Ava looks at Lexa, “Either you let me get up and I’m going to pee right here, your choice.”

“We’re in your bed, so doesn’t matter to me.” Lexa smiles as she finally lets her go.

They both get out of bed, grab their toiletry bags and a change of clothes, “Stay here, we’ll be back in a few.”

They return to the room both dressed and looking decent.

“We need to get to breakfast, so if you have anything to say make it quick, because Ava gets grumpy when she’s hungry.”

They laugh, “Definitely an O’Hara.”

“I’m going to go ahead down and meet up with Mia and Sam, I’ll see you in a few Lex.” Ava looks at Lexa walks over and kisses her in front of her Mom and Aunts.

She turns and winks as she walks out the door.

“She’s a mini O’Hara for sure, not hard to see why you fell for her.”

“Can we just drop it now, please?”

Lexa grabs her key, “I need to eat and you need to get out.”

“Someone’s grumpy, did we interrupt something?”

“Lexa go ahead and get something to eat, we catch up with you after.” Lexa looks at her Mom and nods before running away from them.

Sammy turns to face Rachel and Kristie, “What the hell do the two of you think you are doing? It was difficult enough for her to come out to me and now you are embarrassing her in front of Ava. Either tone it down or feel free to catch the first flight back to Boston.”

Sammy walks away from them, leaving them with their heads down.

“Gotta say, it’s kinda hot, seeing her all protective and such.” Kristie smacks Rachel’s arm before following her sister.

Ava, Mia, Sam and Lexa all join each other at one table and talk and laugh as they eat.

Soon Alex, Ali, Ashlyn and the other staff members join them and get their attention.

Ali starts talking,” On behalf of all of us up here, I want to say thank you to all of you for making this an amazing camp. You have all worked hard and the results speak for themselves. I am proud of all of you, the future of US Women’s soccer looks incredibly bright and I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have even played a small role in helping to identify some future Morgans, Rapinoes, Solos, O’Haras, Heaths, Press’ and I could just keep going on but I won’t. I’ll wrap up by wishing all of you the best of luck out there today and no pressure but remember that the scouts are watching your every move. Now, finish eating and check in with your Coaches.”

Ava and Lexa finish eating their breakfast and make their way over to the Red table where Alex is.

“Morning girls.”

“Morning, Alex. So, what are we supposed to do from now until game time?”

“Well for starters, you can drop by the kit room and pick up your uniforms for today. Then you will a little over an hour to chill out and prepare yourself before we will be taking team and camp pictures. After that you will all lineup with your respective team and be introduced, there will a small ceremony acknowledging and thanking the sponsors and then you will get warmed up and play. After the game, the Coaches on both sides will choose a player of the match for both teams and each of those girls will receive a trophy and a voucher for a pair of Nike cleats.”

“Cool, but what about the scouts?”

“Just play your game and forget about them. They are only here to observe and report back to their respective teams. They are not allowed to have direct contact with any of you at this point as you are minors, they are simply here for future identification purposes.” 

“You mean for the U15 team?”

“Exactly, but that is at least a year away for most of you, so just chill and let yourself have some fun out there.”

Ava reaches over and hugs her, “Thanks, Auntie Alex.”

“Ava, have you heard from your Mom, yet today?”

“No, why?”

“Nothing, she was supposed to message me this morning about something and she hasn’t responded to my inquiries. I’m sure everything is fine, she probably just forgot to charge her phone, again.”

Ava laughs, “Probably, she does that a lot.” 

Ava and Lexa head to their assigned kit room and finally get to see their names and numbers on the back of a jersey.

Ava holds up her Gold jersey with the #1 and O’Hara on the back.

“Looking sharp, Babe.”

Ava smiles as she looks at Lexa holding up her Red #6 Johnson jersey.

“I think I might ask my Mom about changing my last name to Mewis, like her.”

“Alexandra Mewis sounds nice.”

They make their way back to their room and lay down on the bed looking at each other, “What going to happen to us once camp is over, Lex?”

“I don’t know, but we can always call and Facetime and email and well whatever social media platforms there is. We aren’t going to lose contact with each other, especially considering the fact that our Moms know and like each other.”

“I guess that works, not the same as feeling your arms around me though. You’ve really helped me this week, you know.”

Lexa puts her hand on Ava’s face and wipes away a tear, before kissing her, “There’s no crying allowed in soccer, well, unless it’s the men playing because we all know how that goes.”

Ava laughs in agreement.

“You want to get dressed now and take some selfies?”

Ava jumps off the bed and grabs her kit before heading out the door

“I guess that’s a yes.” Lexa laughs as she collects her own kit, and key before heading to the washroom to get changed.

Returning to the room, they take a series of pictures together and send a couple on to their Moms.

In the meantime, Mia and Sam have collected their Blue kits and are heading back to their room to get ready.

They find Hope and Kelley standing at the door waiting for them.

“What did you guys do or what are you planning on doing? You both look guilty as heck.”

“Hope, you can tell them, I gotta go pee, I can’t hold it any longer.”

“Told you not to drink any more coffee.”

Sam lets them in the room and they sit down

“What was Kelley going on about?”

“You know how we are planning on staying here for a couple of days after the camp is over?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Kelley and I have spent most of the morning on the phone with Denver Human Services and we managed to get ahold of Sam’s worker. After explaining who we were and what we wanted and making a trip to the local police station here with Ali as a witness, we have secured permission from the State for Sam to stay with us for the next few days and then catch a flight back home.”

“Are you serious?” Mia looks at Hope who smiles and nods before looking towards Sam. “What do you think, Sam, would you like to stay with us for the next few days?”

“Why would you do that? What do you want from me?”

“There are absolutely no strings attached, Sam; we want you to join us, that’s all, so will you?”

“I don’t have any money to pay for anything.”

“It’s okay, Kelley and I will look after everything, all you need to do is have fun.”

“Please, Sam, say yes, I’d really like for you to join us and I’m sure Ava would too.”

“Okay, I’d really like that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, you guys relax for a bit and I’ll see you at the game. Any idea where Kelley may have disappeared too?”

“Check the chill room, there’s a big tank with a Nemo fish in it.”

“Good to know. See you on the pitch, Solo and Tate.”

“Bye, Mom.”

Mia hugs Sam, “I told you that my Mom would try and help. Now, you wanna watch some Netflix before we need to get ready?”

“Maybe we could put the movie that we were watching last night back on so we could find out what happened.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Hope walks down the hallway and finds a hand-drawn sign saying chill room, she walks inside and smiles when she finds Kelley in a chair watching the fish.

“How did it go?”

“She’s coming with us.”

“Good.”

“You wanted me to be the one to tell them, didn’t you?”

“Yes, it wasn’t my place.”

“Thanks, Kel.”

Kelley points to the tank, “I found Nemo, but there’s no sign of Dory.”

“I’m going to find Ali and let her know everything is a go are you coming with me or are you going to stay and hang with your new friends?”

“I’ll come with you, they don’t answer me when I talk to them.”

Heading back to the office they find the 3A’s going over all the last minute details.

Ali looks up at them and they nod letting her know all is good. She smiles a megawatt grin before getting back to work.

Alex stands up and pulls Kelley back in the hallway, “How did the talk go? You didn’t respond to any of my messages.”

“Sorry, we had a busy morning. Hope and I talked and we have decided to take a step back with regards to us and focus on the girls. We are going to talk to the girls about sharing custody and visitation.”

“I’m proud of you, Worms.”

Alex and Kelley hug before Alex rejoins Ashlyn and Ali.

“Let’s go, Hopey.”

“Right behind you, Kel.” 


	15. Chapter 15

Ava and Lexa hug each other one last time before collecting their go bags and starting the walk to their team meet up area. Once there, they change into their cleats and in Ava’s case put on her gloves. Alex gives them all a once over making sure that everything and everyone is good and accounted for before they make the final approach to the field.

Kelley, Hope, Sammy, Kristie and Rachel all seat in the bleachers talking when Kelley feels a tug on her sleeve, “Kel, look.”

They all turn to see the Red team making their entrance on to the field. Hope as if knowing, hands Kelley a Kleenex to wipe the tears forming in the corner of her eyes away. “Thanks, Hopey.”

“Sammy, check out the number on Lexa’s back.”

“Ahhh, baby Mewwy is all grown up now.”

“Shut it Rach, or else I kick you so hard you’ll find yourself back in your Motherland.”

Kelley leans into Kristie, “What’s going on with the two of them?”

“Rach has been pushing Sammy’s buttons since we got here and now that Lexa told her she likes girls, it’s become worse. Also, I think Sammy really needs to get laid.”

“Should we maybe separate the two of them for the game?”

“Good idea, Rachie, the sun’s in my face here, let’s find somewhere else to sit.”

“Babe, the sun’s going to be in your face where ever we sit.”

“Well, let’s see if we can find a spot where it’s not so bright then.”

Kristie reaches for Rachels’ hand, “Yes, dear.” The two former players move to another spot on the bleachers.

“Thanks for that, KO.”

“Well considering if she said anything about Ava, I probably would have wanted to deck her, it was better for both of us if they moved.”

“I kinda wish she would have stayed now, she deserves a good smack.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah, she hasn’t stopped going on about how she knew all along about Lex and that as her Mother I should have picked up on it.”

“Don’t listen to the Brit, I bought Ava a lifetime’s supply of condoms. Now, I need to figure out what to do with them all.”

“I’m sure, you’ll find something to do with them. Remember that time in Spain, when we used them as water balloons?”

“YES! That was awesome! Although, I did end up being benched for the game when I hit Jill by mistake.”

“She more than deserved it. KO, Lex, has been opening up to me the last few days and I can’t help but think it’s because of Ava, can we make sure they keep in contact after camp?”

“Definitely, I know that Lexa has been there for Ava and helping her through everything this week.”

“Lex mentioned something about Ava having a sister here and Hope, what’s that all about? I thought the two of you were over a long time ago.”

“It’s complicated, Sammy.”

Kelley hears Hope cheer as the Blue team makes their appearance, Kelley stands up and cheers as she sees Mia at the front of the line followed closely by Sam.

They turn their focus to the field where the teams are having photos taken and then Ali steps up with a microphone and thanks to the sponsors, before introducing the players from each side

“Playing for the Red team… we have #1 Ava O’Hara, …. #6 Alexandra Johnson. Now for the Blue team … #2 Samantha Tate, … #5 Emelia Solo…”

“Kelley and Hope both stand up and yell as each is introduced, “Let’s go Ava!, Let’s go Lexa!, Let’s go Sam!, Let’s go Mia!”

As the players line up to shake hands, it becomes apparent to all in attendance the twin factor on the field and when Ava and Mia find each other in the line, they hug and hold each other, wishing each other luck before moving on.

The teams go through their warm-ups and soon, the man in stripes signals for the game to start.

Lexa runs back to Ava and gives her a hug before taking her place on the front line. Sam sitting on the bench gives Mia a thumbs up and Mia smiles and nods.

The game begins and both Alex and Ashlyn are standing on the sidelines yelling instructions to their respective players.

Lexa gets the ball on her feet and prepares to have a go when out of nowhere a foot sweeps the ball from her before she makes contact, and knocks them both to the ground. “Not this time, Lexa.” Mia and Lexa get up and with smiles on their face get back in the play.

The ball goes back and forth and with Ava having yet to touch the ball, she suddenly becomes presses into action when Blue manages to find a seam through the Red team defence.

Hope watches on, “Come out kid, cut off the angle.”

Kelley takes her arm as they watch Ava come charging out, making herself big and blocking the shot attempt with her arm.

“Yes!”

The ball gets knocked out for a Blue throw in and Ava moves back into position. The ball is thrown in and Lexa is able to recover it for the Red team, dribbling down the field in search of an outlet for a pass. Not finding one, she decides to strike the ball on a diagonal cross and hope that her fellow forward can catch up to it. The plays works and Lexa cuts back towards the centre of the field, getting the return pass and wasting no time in one-timing it towards the goal and in.

Ava comes running out and hugs Lexa as they return to the midpoint of the field, “Nice goal.”

Ava jogs back to the 6-yard line as the play restarts. Blue not content to remain down seems to up their play and presses the opposition. Mia starts yelling at her teammates and directing them. They gain the Red end and continue to play a passing game, Ava tries to continue tracking the ball but is blocked by her own players. She starts yelling at her teammates, “Away,” in hopes that they can get it out, but with no luck.

Seeing an opportunity, with the ball in the air, Ava jumps and punches it out, but unfortunately for her the ball lands back at Mia’s feet and she decides to let a shot fly on goal. Ava struggles to get back into position but can only watch as the ball hits the netting behind her.

Kelley and Hope look at each other momentarily before cheering for the goal. Kelley feels bad seeing Ava with her head down, but knows it was a good goal; so she’ll get past it.

Kelley looking down on the Blue bench sees all the girls cheering except Sam, who is sitting at the end of the bench.

“I’ll be back.” Hope watches as Kelley climbs down the bleachers as approaches Ali, talking with her for a minute before they both signal for Sam to come over to them.

“What’s up? Let me guess I’m not going to be playing today.” Sam looks down at the ground.

Ali takes her hand and lifts Sam’s head, “You are going on for the second half.”

“I am?” Ali and Kelley nod their head.

“Then why are you both here, right now?”

“Because we wanted to talk to you about something. We both know how frustrating it can be sitting on the bench or watching from the sidelines when you just want to be out there playing. Kelley and I both had to deal with our fair share of ups and downs during our careers as have Ashlyn, Alex and Hope; but the thing that set us all apart was how recovered from it. We kept our heads up and kept working until we showed everyone that we deserved to be out there with the rest of them. We have seen this week that you have the skill Sam, you just need to work on your confidence. We want to see you succeed, know that we are all here for you, even after this camp is over. Now, it’s almost half-time, how about you rejoin your team on the bench and get ready to show everyone what you are capable of doing out there. We’ll be watching.”

Ali leaves, Kelley and Sam alone as she heads back to her set, “You got this, kid. Now, go out there and show us.”

“Thank you, Kelley.” Kelley smiles before heading back to her own seat.

“What was that about, Kel? Is Sam ok?” 

“Just offered her some words of encouragement, that’s all.”

“You were always good at that. Kel, I’m proud of you and the person you’ve become.”

“Thanks, Hopey.”

The whistle blows for the half with the teams still knotted at one goal apiece. The subs for the second half get warmed up as Alex and Ashlyn talk to their teams.

“Hey KO, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, Sammy.”

“Is Ava a twin, because that girl on the other team looks a lot like her.”

“Yes, Sammy. Mia is her twin sister.”

Kelley laughs as she watches Sammy try and put the pieces together and shake her head.

Hope turns to Kelley, “Sam’s a midfielder? I thought she was a forward like Lexa.”

“I have a feeling that Ali, may have spoken with Ash about moving her.”

The second half begins with Ava and Lexa taking their positions on the Red side and Mia and Sam taking theirs on the Blue side.

The whistle blows and the game gets back underway, in no time flat, Sam turns over the ball to Lexa who sends it forward and helps to set up the Blue team’s second goal of the game.

Hope smiles when she sees Mia walk over to Sam and tap her on the arm, letting her know it’s okay. Sam nods and then smiles at something, Mia says.

When the game restarts, the energy change in Sam is noticeable as she holds her head up and starts making crisp passes and directing the play from the middle. Seeing a Blue shirt in line with the Red backline, she chips the ball forward through a hole and springs her teammate for a shot on goal. Ava watches the play unfold and sees the foot make contact, she dives but isn’t able to get her hands on the low, hard shot before it crosses the line.

The Blue team surrounds Sam and hugs her, she looks over at the stands with a big smile on her face and sees Kelley and Hope both standing and cheering.

“In case you forgot, which side you supposed to be cheering for, it’s the team wearing Red, KO.”

“Not today it isn’t Sammy, today we cheer for both and even you have to admit that was a nice setup.”

Sammy nods.

For the next little while the teams are content just to play keep away from each other and wait for an opening.

Blue lobs an easy shot on goal, and Ava makes the stop. She waits for the players to leave the box before sending the ball downfield towards Lexa. The striker jumps up and flicks the ball on to her Red teammate then turns and makes a run for the box, evading Mia’s coverage and connecting on a header, sending the ball towards the net; the keeper dives and manages to block it but Lexa gets her toes on the spilt rebound and chips it over the prone keeper for another goal.

The Blue team regroups knowing they still have time on the clock to make something happen. They capitalize on a sloppy clearance in the Red box and Ava can only watch on helplessly as the ball hits the netting to tie the game back up with only minutes left in the game.

With mere minutes left in the game and most of the people in attendance on their feet, Ava comes up with two back to back highlight-reel saves to keep her team in the match. Blue circles the perimeter looking for an opening and a scramble out front leads to the whistle being blown and the referee pointing to the spot, “Handball #9 Red.”

“Who’s your shooter, Blue?”

They look towards the sideline and Ash is standing on top of the bench waving two fingers, signalling she wants Sam to take the shot.

Mia walks over to her and hands her the ball, “All yours, you got this. Choose your spot and fire away.”

Ava gets instructions from the referee as Sam put down the ball on the spot. Sam backs up and takes a couple of deep breaths. Ava takes her place on the line, shaking out her hands and bouncing on her toes, in an attempt to distract the shooter.

The referee blows his whistle and Sam runs up and strikes the ball with everything in her, Ava dives but it’s too late the ball hits the netting behind her. The Blue team and their fans go wild as they await the final whistle.

Two minutes later they hear it and Blue celebrates the win. Ava drops to her knees in goal, feeling like she let her team down. Lexa walks over, sits down in front of her and then leans forward to hold her as the keeper cries on her shoulder.

Mia and Sam celebrate with their teammates until they notice what is unfolding on the other side. Not saying a word to each other but knowing what they are thinking, they both leave the celebration to sit down and hold their crying sister and friend.

“I’m sorry, Ava.” Sam hugs her, “It’s okay, I’m just glad it was you and not Mia because I have a feeling she would never let me hear the end of it.”

“Probably true, good game Sis.” Ava and Mia hug. “Good game, Mia.”

They are called to lineup so the Players of the Match can be announced. No one is surprised to hear Lexa’s name called for the Red side, but when Sam’s name is announced as the selection for the Blue side, Hope has to hold Kelley back from running on the field.

Hope finally let’s go of Kelley and the former defender goes running to Sam and hugs her, “Told ya, you could do it.”

Mia knowing Sam’s story can’t help but smile when she sees both Kelley and her Mom hugging her. While Ava watches on, wondering why they would go to her before their daughters. Lexa wraps her arms behind her, “What’s wrong?”

“I guess I’m just feeling a bit left out right now, it’s as if they have forgotten about me and included Sam.”

“Babe, I’m sure they have a good reason for it, and you find out why when the time is right. Look over at Mia, she’s smiling at them and from what I’ve gathered about your sister she doesn’t freely smile; so she knows something about it that you don’t. Don’t read more into it than you need too.”

“I guess you’re right and can you call me Babe again I like the way it sounds.”

“Babe.”

“We probably shouldn’t be caught kissing out here, but I really want to kiss you right now.”

“Come back to the room with me and we can have some fun before we need to get ready for supper.”

“Let’s go.” Ava and Lexa collect their stuff before making the walk back to their room and locking the door behind them.

“We both really needs showers badly, we stink.”

“I can handle it, if you can.”

Ava leans in and kisses her, they move over to Ava’s bed and lay down holding each other and exchanging kisses.

Kelley looks all over for Ava, figuring it should be easy to find her in Gold kit, but having no luck.

“Mia, Sam have either of you seen, Ava?”

“Not since the end of the game, she’s probably with Lexa.”

“Yeah, probably. So, we’re on for supper still, right?”

They nod, “Okay, I’m going to head back to the dorm and see if I can locate Ava; if you see her in the meantime can you let her know I’m looking for her.”

Hope approaches the pair as Kelley heads off, “Where’s Kelley going?”

“Can’t find Ava, so she’s heading to the dorm to look for her.”

“Get your stuff, we need to find Ava.”

“Yes, Mom.”

They all make their way to the Red dorm to locate Ava.

Kelley knocks on the door and tries to open it only to find it actually locked for once. “All camp, I’ve been telling them to lock it and now they finally do.”

“Ava, c’mon, I know you’re in there, let me in.”

Lexa gets up, unlocks the door and lets Kelley in

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Didn’t seem like you were looking that hard for me after the game.”

“What are you talking about? I congratulated Mia, Sam and a few of the other girls and then went looking for you and you had already disappeared.”

“Why did you go to Sam and Mia before me? I’m your daughter, not them!”

Hope, Mia and Sam all enter the room and hear her words, “Great now everyone’s here.”

“Ava…”

“Don’t Ava me, I was in tears and Lex was the only one there for me.”

Lexa stands up, “I think I’ll go and grab a shower now.” She collects her clothes and heads out of the room.

“Ava, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t even, you’ve barely spoken to me over the last few days. Is there some big secret that I’m not supposed to know about?”

“Ava…” Kelley starts talking and she feels Sam her arm and stop her.

“Ava, they’ve been keeping my secret.”

Ava sits up and watches as Sam sits down beside her, “Your secret? What do mean?”

“The truth is, I don’t have any family, I live in a foster home. I didn’t want anyone knowing and looking at me differently because of it. I told Mia and she told Hope and then I guess Hope told Kelley. Ali already knew because she had to sign to be my guardian for the week.”

“You don’t have any family?” Sam shakes her head.

“Why couldn’t you guys tell me this before I made a fool of myself?”

Mia comes over and sits on the other side of her, “I wanted to tell you, but it’s Sam’s story to tell not mine.”

“I get it, so what happens now?”

“Well, first you guys shower, because you all stink and then we go out to supper. Also, I already spoke with Sammy and they are joining us as well, so you and Lexa will have the evening together. And then tomorrow after breakfast and closing we are picking you guys up and going to spend the next three days enjoying all that Orlando has to offer.”

“Sam is staying with us?”

“Yes, that’s why Hope and me were unavailable this morning, we were jumping through hoops to gain permission for her to stay with us until she has to return to Denver.”

“I’m still really confused, with everything.”

“You’re a keeper, it doesn’t take much to confuse you.” Kelley laughs and gets smacked by Hope while Sam laughs and gets smacked by Ava.

“Alright, all three of 3 hit the showers now, before we pass out from the stench in here. We’ll be back in an hour.” Kelley and Hope leave them to talk things out amongst themselves.

“S’up with the look, Kel?”

“I’m just realizing that I thought it was hard raising one teenager, now essentially I have three to look after for at least the next few days anyway.

“Lucky you, I have them, plus you, to look after.”


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, they all head down for breakfast, trying to eat and at the same time saying goodbye to all the friends that they have made during the camp.

The instructors draw their attention and give their closing remarks before the players are told to head back to their rooms and finish packing up, if they haven’t already done so and that the shuttle bus will be there shortly for those needing transport to the airport.

Ava, Lexa, Mia and Sam all head back up to their respective rooms and put the finishing touches on their packing jobs.

Once that’s done, Ava and Lexa sit down and hold each other, knowing that their time together is drawing quickly to an end. They share what they believe to be their last kiss, before heading downstairs to meet their families.

Seeing Mia and Sam already there, they head over to where they are and drop their bags. Ava and Lexa hold on to each other’s hand and wait until their Mom’s say it’s time to go.

Rachel and Kristie make their way over to Lexa and hug her.

“You guys are totally cute together.”

Ava and Lexa both look at each other and smile, “Yeah, we know.”

Sammy joins the group along with Hope and Kelley.

“Time to go Mom?” Lexa looks at her Mom sadly.

“Actually, there’s been a change in plans, Lex. KO and Hope have asked if you could stay with them for a couple of days and I figure that you’ve been working hard and deserve a reward; not to mention I wasn’t looking forward to the idea of you crying on my shoulder after leaving Ava for the entire flight home. You are to be on your absolute best behaviour and listen to Kelley and Hope at all times, understood?”

Lexa grins and hugs her Mom tightly, “Thanks, Mom.”

“You’re welcome; don’t make me regret this, ok?”

“I promise, I won’t.”

“Love you, I gave KO money for you, don’t waste it on stupid stuff!”

“I love you too, Mom; but no promises on that.”

Lexa hugs her Mom and Aunts and then waves as they catch the shuttle to the airport. 

Ava and Lexa smile and hug with the realization that they aren’t going to be split up just yet.

“How about you all go and finish saying your goodbyes, while we get the bags loaded up.”

The girls all look, nod and smile before running over to the remaining group of players.

Ash and Ali walk over and collect some bags following Hope and Kelley out with them, “This is a good thing that the two of you are doing.”

“I think Kel and I both realize that we have a long road ahead of us in rebuilding our relationships and regaining the girls’ trust. This is a small thing that we can do and besides that, who are we to separate the four musketeers now that they’ve found each other.”

They all laugh.

“Yeah, the four of them have become attached at the hip.”

“For sure, it’s good that they have found a group that they can talk within and support each other, everyone needs that. Mia, has always been closed off and it’s been like pulling teeth to get her to talk to me; the past few days she has begun speaking more openly and honestly with me and I can’t help but think that it’s because of the girls and especially Ava.”

“I’ve noticed that as well with Ava; we’ve always had a pretty good relationship and been able to talk but I’m appreciating the fact that she is now starting to display a backbone and call me out on my bs.”

“You guys are definitely in for an interesting next few days, we’ll have our phones handy, just in case you need someone to bail you out.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Harris.”

Soon the group drive towards their new hotel in an upgraded rental, to accommodate the extra bodies.

“Kel, you just drove past the hotel.”

“The GPS lady says it’s on the right in 500 metres.”

“Well, I’m telling you, that you already passed it!”

Kelley drives a bit further and when the GPS tells them that they have arrived only to find it is an empty lot, Kelley has no choice but to admit to Hope that she was right and turn around.

The girls riding in the back can’t help but laugh at the interaction. They get checked in to the hotel and their rooms.

“So ground rules, we are to know where you are at all times; no exceptions! You all have phones and our numbers, take the time to send us a message or else you will spend the remaining time here enjoying the beach view from the hotel window, understood?” They all quickly nod.

“Next, no drinking, no smoking, no boys, no sex!” Ava looks at her Mom, who is trying to contain her laughter and failing miserably.

“You’re ridiculous, Mom.”

“Well considering the fact that you and Lexa are presumably sharing a bed for the next three nights, it had to be said.”

“Alright then, being as though we are forbidden from having sex, so are you and Hope.”

“But, we…”

“Mom, don’t go there, it’s pretty obvious that you’ve hooked up since being here.”

Hope puts her hand on Kelley’s arm, “Yes, we hooked up; but you need to understand that your Mom and I share a long history together and regardless of us not currently being together; we will always love each other. That being said, we’ve already spoken and agreed that we will not pursue our relationship any further until we have rebuilt and or established relationships with the two of you. We love you, girls, very much and there aren’t really any words we can say to make you forgive us for what we did but we are going to do our very best going forward to make it up to you both. Now, how about we all get changed into our bathing suits and head to the beach to enjoy a few hours of relaxation before we crush each other on the go-kart track and arcade.”

“You’re going down, Hopey.” Hope smiles and shakes her head at Kelley.

“We’ll see you soon, don’t forget to grab towels and put on sunscreen.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Hope and Kelley make their way across the hall to their room to get changed.

Ava, Mia and Lexa get changed and collect what they need, while Sam sits on the bed deep in thought.

Mia sits down beside her, “Whatcha thinking about?”

“I’ve never been go-karting and I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it.”

“You don’t have to be good at it to have fun, in fact, the worse you are at it the more fun it is.”

“Except if you drive off the track and end up in the grass, then you have to wait until you get pushed back on, and that’s just annoying,” Lexa adds

“Unless there’s a cute guy working and you get to see his muscles in action.” They all look at Mia and shakes their heads.

They meet Hope and Kelley in the hallway and head for the beach together. Kelley takes Ava’s arm, “Everything good with you guys? You looked a bit distracted when you came out.”

“Mom, I don’t think that I’ve actually come out yet, but I’m sure when I do I’ll be distracted by it. And to answer the question, everything is fine; we handled it.”

Ava jogs ahead to catch up with the girls while Kelley shakes her head.

The spend the afternoon in and out of the water, splashing around and just laying and basking in the sun before returning to their rooms to change for the evening out.

Mia looks in her suitcase, “Umm guys do any of you have any clean clothes left?”

They all shake their heads.

“We can wear our bikinis underneath for now and then we can find out if there is someplace where the Mom’s can do laundry.”

Knock, knock

“You summoned.” They all look at Kelley and Hope, “We have a slight clothing problem; none of us packed for an extended stay.”

“You have enough to get by for right now?”

“Yeah, we shared.”

“I kinda figured being as though Mia is currently wearing an UGA shirt and Sam a Boston College one. Let me make a call and I’ll be back.”

Kelley heads out of the room, “Who is she calling? The laundry fairy?”

Kelley returns to the room a few minutes later, “Okay, change of plans, go-karting and the arcade will be waiting for tomorrow; we now grabbing food and driving to Krashlyn’s house for supper, to do laundry and to hang out with the kids.”

They all do as they are told and can’t help but laugh at the predicament, they are currently in as they stop to grab pizza, salad and wings and then head to Ashlyn and Ali’s house.

Making their way inside, Ashlyn shows them the laundry room and Hope starts dumping and sorting out clothes before putting on the first load while Kelley gets everyone set up with what they need to eat.

Ace and Acacia return with Kyle after having been out for a walk with the dogs to find a house full of company.

Acacia stops and looks and both Ava and Mia and then Ali, “Mommy, there’s two of them.”

Ava having met Acacia before walks over to her, “Remember me? I’m Ava and this is my sister Mia and we’re twins. These are our friends Sam and Lexa, can they be your friend too?”

“Okay, you want to draw with me?”

“How about we eat first and then we can all draw together. How about we see who the best drawer is?”

“Mom is, she draws Sharks and fish and cats and everything.”

“Then we are going to have to see if any of us are better than her. Ace, you want to join us?”

Ace nods as he shoves pizza in his mouth, “Then it’s settled.”

After supper the kids including Ashlyn sit down on the floor and draw, laughing at each other’s attempts.

Hope, Kelley and Ali watch on leaning against the kitchen island and can’t help but smile as the scene unfolding in front of them.

“You know I don’t think any of us could have predicted this happening at the beginning of the week.”

“Definitely, not.” Hope wraps her arm around and pulls Kelley into her, and Kelley wraps her arm around Hope’s waist. At the same time, Ava and Mia happen to look over and see their Moms holding each other and the wheels start turning. 


	17. Chapter 17

Back at the hotel, the girls are now getting changed into clean PJs before completing their nighttime routine and climbing into bed.

Ava climbs under the covers and leans over to kiss Lexa good night.

“Okay, that’s enough, we don’t want to see or hear that!”

“No one asked for your opinion, Sam.”

“Yeah, but I agree with her; take your cuteness elsewhere Sis.”

They all laugh before shutting off the lamp and getting comfortable for the night.

The next day they are up early and all go for a run together along the beach as the sun rises, before heading back to the hotel, getting cleaned up, grabbing some breakfast and then making their way to Discovery Cove.

After going through the process of getting checked in for the Dolphin swim, they all get set up in wetsuits and await the trainer calling them.

Soon they make their way into the cold water and are completely mesmerized by the beautiful animal they are interacting with. When their time is up none of them are moving very quickly to vacate the area. Once they remove and hand in their wetsuits, Hope and Kelley are shocked when Sam hugs them, “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Sam. You ready to explore the rest of this place and get some lunch?”

They spend the next several hours in and out of the water, taking in all that Discovery Cove has to offer before making their way out, heading back to the hotel to chill for a little bit and then finally hitting the arcade and go-kart track.

With a bit of coaxing from the girls, especially Mia, Sam takes her seat in a kart, clicked the seatbelt on and then follows their lead. The Moms watch on as the girls race each other around the track, before joining them for a larger race.

At the end of it all Mia comes up as the winner, but none of them seems to care as they are all smiling and laughing, even Sam.

They head out to grab some supper at a restaurant nearby before heading back to the hotel for the remainder of the evening.

Laying on the beds and watching a movie, Ava gets up to answer a knock on the door. Opening it she finds her Mom and Hope.

“S’up?”

“We’re going to head down and have a drink, you guys are okay, right?”

“We’re fine, Mom. There’s a Pitch Perfect marathon on. Go and have fun.”

“Call us if you need us.”

Kelley hugs her before Hope and her head towards the elevator. Ava watches on as they join their hands while waiting and her Mom leans into Hope.

Ava closes the door and signals Mia to come over to her, “You guys want anything from the machine?”

“Chips!”

They both slip-on shoes before making their way out into the hallway after remembering to prop the door, allowing for easier entrance.

Walking towards the vending machine, Ava stops and looks at Mia, “I’m not the only one who sees what’s going on with our Moms am I?”

Mia shakes her head, “No. I know they said that their focus was going to be on us and forming a relationship, but I’ve honestly never seen my Mom laughing, smiling and just being as happy as she has been since reconnecting with Kelley.”

“My Mom is generally always happy but the past few days she’s been next level happy, and just now I watched them join hands before stepping into the elevator.”

“We have two days left together and then we fly back across the country from each other.”

“I know, but, now that I have you, I don’t want to lose you and as much as I’m still hurting from this whole situation; I can’t help but want for our Moms to be happy as well. They both made bad choices in the past and hurt each other, and us but maybe the reason neither of them has settled down or remarried again is that they belong with each other and their hearts know it.”

Mia takes some deep breaths, “I’m still not a big fan of Kelley’s, but I have to admit she is slowly starting to grow on me and she does make my Mom happy. Any ideas as to how we can make it or them happen?”

“Once we leave Orlando, I highly doubt that they are going to be directly in contact with each other unless it pertains to us visiting.”

Ava takes a step back and her face lights up, “I’ve got it! My Mom and I watched this movie before where the daughters switched places to get their parents together, do you think that would work for us?”

“You mean like, I go to Atlanta and pretend to be you while you take my place in Seattle and pretend to be me?”

“Exactly, we can also get to know each other’s Mom on their own turf without them knowing.”

“And how exactly are we going to pull this off?”

“We spend the next two days observing and getting to know everything about each other.”

“That sounds like a ton of work; I hate school and homework.”

“Mia, come on we can get Sam and Lexa to help us.”

“I’m not kissing your girlfriend!”

“I’m sure we can work around that because I don’t want you kissing Lexa, either!”

“Okay, I’m in. Operation get our Moms back together is on.”

They hug and start discussing the details before making their way back to the room.

“What took you guys so long and where are my chips?” Sam turns to ask them.

Ava and Mia look at each other and laugh, “Be right back.” Mia heads back out the door to collect some chips for her friend.

Once Mia returns, they make sure their door is closed and locked so they aren’t interrupted as they discuss their plans with Sam and Lexa.

“OMG, so you are seriously considering switching places with each other?”

Ava and Mia nod in response.

“Oh, this is going to be good!” They all look at Sam who is rubbing her hands together.

“Who are you? Some evil cartoon character?” Sam shrugs, “Maybe.”

They spend the next several hours talking things through and beginning to put the plan in action.

“Okay, so Operation get our Moms back together is all set to start in the morning; Mia and I will switch clothes and start acting the part.”

“Yep. One thing though, we need a better code name than “Operation get our Moms back together.”

“Agreed. How about Operation O'Solo? It was their ship name when they were originally together.”

“O'Solo, huh? I guess that’ll work.”

“Alright, Operation O'Solo will commence first thing in the morning.”

“It is the morning already, Ava.” Ava looks at her phone and the time, “Alright, it’ll commence when we get up, now let’s go to sleep.”

They all finish up and are soon asleep.

The next morning, they are all extremely tired but begin to put the plan into action with the two girls swapping their clothing attire and appearance for the day.

Thankfully the plans for the day mostly involve hanging out at the beach and eating street food.

Ava intercepts Mia before she puts hot peppers on her burger because she knows that’ll be a dead give away as she doesn’t like hot or spicy food.

“It tastes bland this way.”

“Deal with it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s going to look weird if you don’t put peppers on your burger.”

“Oh, crap! Why can’t you just eat like a normal person?”

“Are you saying you’re normal and I’m not?” They look at each other and bust out laughing.

They join Sam and Lexa at the table, “You guys good?”

“Yeah, just a little issue with food selection.”

“Sort it out, because here come the Moms.”

Kelley and Hope take a seat at the table with them, “How’s the food?”

They all give a thumbs-up as they have food in their mouths.

“So, Hopey and I were doing some asking around and apparently there is a place not too far from here where you can see and feed alligators and crocodiles; do you guys maybe wanna check it out?”

Ava and Mia look across the table at each other and nod, indicating it’s okay with them.

“Great! Oh, just so you know there’s also going to snakes there as well. Ava, I know you aren’t a fan, but I’m sure Lexa will protect you from the big bad snakes.”

“Not funny, Mom!” Mia pipes up to maintain their cover.

“It is a little. Finish eating and we’ll head that way when you’re done.”

Ava begins to breathe heavily as Hope and Kelley head over to collect their belongings, “I’m terrified of snakes.”

Mia responds, “They are pretty common where I’m from.”

“Okay, here’s the plan; Ava, you and Sam will hold hands and me and Lexa will hold hands; unless you want to hold my hand and let Sam and Lexa hold hands.”

“No, this plan sucks; I want to be able to hold Lex’s hand.”

“Too bad, Sis; it is what it is, right?”

Ava nods.

Lexa wraps her arms around her, kissing her on the cheek, “I’ll be right there beside you.”

“Thank you.”

They make their way to “Gatorland.”

After parking and paying they enter the park with a map in hand.

Hope speaks up, “How about we split up and you girls can wander around without us for a bit?”

They nod, “Yeah, we’re good with that.” Mia answers, causing Kelley to look at her.

Kelley looks down at the map, “How about we meet back up in an hour at the coffee stand?”

“Okay.”

“Stay together, call us if you need us and please don’t get eaten; because I don’t want to have to explain to anyone how that happened.”

They all laugh at Kelley, before they head away from each other.

“That made things much easier.” Ava takes Lexa’s hand.

“I seriously don’t know how the two of you are going to pull off this switch, you’re like opposites.”

“Thanks for that vote of support, Sam.”

They wander around taking in the sights and taking plenty of pictures before meeting back up with the Moms and finish walking the rest of the park.

Driving back to the hotel, Kelley turns back to look at them, “So, what was your favourite part of the park?”

Mia knowing how much Ava liked the parrots, speaks up, “I liked the parrots.”

“What about you Mia, what was your favourite part?”

“The Albino crocodiles were cool and I liked the big cats.”

Hope hearing her answer responds, “You hate cats.”

“Ummm… yeah little ones, but the big ones were cool!”

“Sam, Lexa what did you guys like?”

“The snakes, me and Ava, I mean Mia went and checked them out.” Mia smacks her leg.

“I’m with Ava, the parrots were cool, but I also like seeing the Albino crocs and seeing how big they all were and watching them snatch the food out of the air, that was awesome!”

Mia looks at Kelley, “What did you like, Mom?”

“You going to show them the pic, Kel?”

“What, pic?”

“Kelley wanted to sit on a gator, she did that and then proceeded to trip over its tail and do a face plant in the sand.”

“Please tell me you got it on video.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I did; I’ll show it to you guys when we get back to the hotel.”

“Hopey, you promised that it would stay between us.”

“Sorry, not sorry, Kel.”

“You’re sleeping in your own bed tonight.”

“Kel, shh!”

Kelley looks and realizes she said it out loud and the girls all heard her.

“Care to share, Mom?” Ava tries to imitate her sister’s glare as she looks at Hope.

“Okay, you caught us, we’ve been sharing a bed; sleeping only!”

“Uh huh, can you explain that look on your face when Mo.. Kelley mentioned sleeping in separate beds?”

“Mia, we’re adults, we are more than capable to just sleeping in a bed together.”

“I believe you, Mom, not!”

They all look at Ava as she masters one of her sister’s comebacks.

Back at the hotel, Hope keeps her word and shares the video of Kelley with the girls who make a promise not to share it with anyone else.

In their hotel room, Hope and Kelley are getting ready for bed.

“Kel, did the girls seem a little different to you today?”

“Yeah, it’s like Ava has picked up Mia’s attitude.”

“And Mia is quieter than normal.”

“Maybe, it’s just because they are rubbing off on each other.”

“I guess that’s a possibility. Good night, Kel.”

“Night, Hopey.”

In their own room, the girls are long since asleep with Ava and Lexa laying wrapped in each other while Sam and Mia edge closer together in their bed.


	18. Chapter 18

Hope, Kelley and the four girls sit in the hotel restaurant having breakfast. The girls are all pretty quiet, knowing that it’s their last full day together and not looking forward to the inevitable separation.

Hope and Kelley look at each other and acknowledge the heaviness currently surrounding them and the situation.

“Umm… so it’s our last day here, what would you guys like to do today?” Kelley asks and awaits a response, but gets none.

The girls look up and then back down at their plates and continue their slow eating.

“How about we spend the morning at the beach, and then we can go shopping this afternoon,” Hope suggests.

They nod their heads.

“Finish eating and we’ll meet back up in an hour in the lobby and head to the beach together, okay?”

They all finish eating and then head back up to their hotel rooms to get changed into beachwear.

Kelley watches as the girls enter their room, “It’s going to be a long day isn’t it, Hopey?”

“Yes, it is.”

Kelley and Hope enter their own room and start getting themselves ready.

“Kel, come sit, for a minute.”

Kelley walks over and sits beside Hope, “S’up, Hopey?”

“The girls are going to have an extremely difficult time dealing with being separated, considering how close they’ve become in only a week; we need to stay true to our promise to them and allow them as much access to each other as possible.”

“I know and I agree, completely. I also foresee a few trips coming up between Atlanta and Boston.”

“I’m glad you get to deal with the Massholes and not me.” Hope smiles at Kelley.

“Lexa makes Ava happy and I like the kid, so I’m willing to make an exception for her unfortunate surroundings and birthplace. What about Sam? She is one of us now and I don’t like the idea of her going back to a home with people who aren’t her family.”

“I know and I plan to check out the home and her foster parents when we get to Denver.”

“You’ll let me know what you think, right? I want to make sure she is safe and being provided for.”

“I promise you that I will not leave her until I’m certain she will be okay.”

Kelley hugs Hope and kisses her on the cheek, “Thank you.”

Knock, knock

“Mom?”

“Yeah?” Kelley and Hope both respond to the voice.

“We need you.” They head to the door and find Sam crying and Mia holding her at the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“Can we come in?”

Kelley and Hope back up and let them come inside.

Hope looks at her daughter, “What’s going on Mia? Is Sam hurt?”

Mia looks at Kelley and then Hope, “Sam, got her period. It’s her first one.” “Oh, okay.”

Hope turns to Kelley, “Kel, how about you take Ava and Lexa ahead to the beach while Mia and I help Sam out.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” Hope nods letting Kelley know she’s got it.

Kelley nods before collecting her stuff and heading out the door to collect the other two girls. The three of them make the short walk and get themselves set up on the sand.

“You guys want to rent a couple of paddleboards?”

“Is Sam going to be okay?” Kelley smiles at Ava before hugging her and kissing her on the top of the head. “She will be fine. You were scared when you got your first period as well, even though we had already talked about it beforehand. It’s completely different talking about it to experiencing it, right?” Kelley looks towards Lexa as well when she says it and the two girls nod. “Hope and Mia are with her and they will help her, so how about we allow ourselves to have some fun in the meantime, okay?”

The three of them go about putting on sunscreen and heading for the boards and waves while back at the hotel, Hope and Mia talk to Sam about things.

Hope finds out that Mia and the girls had supplies and were able to help Sam out temporarily in that area, but she wants to make sure she has everything she needs.

“Mia, why don’t you take Sam back to your room and get her set up with a warm bath while I pop to the store and pick up a few things for her.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“Sam, are you okay to take Advil?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be back very shortly, call me if you need anything.”

Mia leads Sam back to their room and after fighting with her about having a bath, finally manages to convince her to try it out to help with the cramps.

“Mia, can you stay with me, please?”

“Yeah.”

“Mia?”

“Yeah, Sam.”

“Thank you.”

Mia starts crying with her friend, “Damn it, Tate, you’re turning me into a wimp.”

“Yeah, well if you plan on passing for Ava you need to tone down the ‘tude a bit.”

“I don’t have an attitude problem!”

“Yeah, you kinda do; but it’s one of the reasons I like you, you don’t take shit from anyone including your Mom or I guess Moms in this case. Mia, I know you are trying to resist becoming attached to Kelley, stop it; she clearly cares about you and is trying to do everything she can to make up for the past. You are extremely fortunate that you have two Moms in your life, who care about you; I don’t have one and right now I really wish I did.”

“Stupid hormones making us all sappy, am I right?” Sam laughs at Mia’s response to her crying.

They hear a knock on the door and Hope calling, so Mia gets up to let her in.

Hope carries in a couple of bags and sets them down on the bed, “I got pads, tampons, Advil, Ginger Ale, chocolate and chips. Did I miss anything?” Mia hugs Hope, “Nope. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Mia. How is Sam doing?”

“It’s probably time for her to get out of the tub now before she’s a complete prune.”

“I heard that!” Sam yells from the bathroom. “And I’m getting out now. Can you..?”

“I got ya covered, Sam.” Mia heads over to her bag and pulls out some clothes and grabs the package of pads before ducking into the bathroom, giving them to Sam and then returning to her Mom.

Sam emerges from the bathroom a short time later.

“How are you doing?”

“Can I have some Advil please?” Hope opens the container and hands her a couple of pills to take.

“Mom, is it okay if we just chill out for a little while and maybe watch a movie rather than going to the beach?”

“Do you guys want me to stay or go back to my room?”

Mia looks at Sam and then Hope, “Stay, Mom.”

“Okay, I’ll just send Kelley a message letting her know what’s happening.”

New Message

Hopey: Girls and I are going to chill and watch a movie in their room.

Kelley sitting and watching the girls playing in the water, hears her phone beeping and takes a look at the message.

Kelley: How is Sam?

Hopey: She’s doing better, I went ahead and bought supplies for her. Her and Mia are curled up together at the moment watching SpongeBob Squarepants.

Kelley: I love SpongeBob!

Hopey: Of course, you do.

Kelley: Should we come back?

Hopey: Don’t rush back, let them enjoy the water; we’re all good here.

Kelley: Okay, we’ll see you in a bit then.

After an hour Ava and Lexa come up to Kelley, “Mom, can we go back to the hotel? It just doesn’t feel right having fun when Sam and Mia aren’t.”

“Yeah, I’ll return the boards while you guys pack up and then we can head back to the hotel.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

They head back to the hotel and when they open the door find Sam, Mia and Hope all asleep on the beds while the TV plays cartoons.

Kelley pulls the girls back in the hallway, “How about we let them sleep for a bit. We can watch something in my room and I’ll send Hope a message letting her know we’re here.”

They head to Hope and Kelley’s room and lay down on the beds, “I’m sorry about today not going according to plan, Mom.” 

“Ava, you and I both know that sometimes things just don’t go according to the plan. I’m not disappointed in the least; if anything, I’m impressed by the fact that the two of you were willing to give up your beach time to be here for Sam and Mia.”

“They’re family, Mom.” Kelley looks at her daughter as she says it and feels the truth in the statement.

The room door opens and Hope enters followed by Sam and Mia.

Ava and Lexa climb off the bed and hug them both.

Sam looks at them, “I’m sorry for messing up your day.”

“You didn’t mess up our day Sam.”

“But you were all excited about paddle boarding and surfing and you didn’t get a chance to do it because of me.”

Ava places her hand on Sam’s arm, “Sam, look at me, please.” Sam looks at her, “We made the choice to come back here because we care about you and wanted to make sure you were okay. There will be other opportunities for us to hit the waves, today just wasn’t meant to be, as my Mom told me earlier, “Sometimes things just don’t go according to the plan.” Now, I would really like to hit the mall and do some shopping are you feeling up to it?”

“I think so.”

“Good, because I’m going to need someone to carry my bags.” “Ava!”

“I’m only kidding, Mom!”

Kelley turns to Hope, “She really isn’t, the kid can shop with the best of them. Usually, I send Erin with her for back to school clothes, because apparently, I’m … wait a minute! You’re the one with the girlfriend now, guess that means both of our choices are gay now!”

Ava covers her face with her hand, “Mia, can I share your Mom, mine’s broken.”

“You’ve seen the way my Mom dresses, right? She has a special occasion plaid shirt back home.”

“Really?” Ava looks at Mia, who smiles and nods.

“You always did look good in plaid, Hopey,” Kelley responds to the comment.

Hope shakes her head at all of them and laughs, “This conversation has gotten ridiculous. Are we ready to go shopping or not?”

“Umm.. can Lexa and I have a few minutes to change out of bikinis, you guys were sleeping earlier so we didn’t get a chance to.”

“Go ahead, Ava.”

“Thank you.”

All four girls head out of the room back to their own, to get changed and ready to go shopping.

Ava and Mia realizing this is their last chance to perfect each other’s persona, put on an outfit from the other’s bag and accessorize accordingly.

They spend the rest of the day checking out the stores and buying a few things here and there, before heading to a nearby restaurant to have supper as a group.

“So everyone knows the plan for the morning, correct?” Hope scans the faces of the girls and Kelley to make sure they are all on the same page.

“We know, when we get back to the hotel we need to make sure we have everything packed except what we need for tomorrow. We will have breakfast together and then finish packing up, check out and then head to the airport to get checked in for our flights.”

“Exactly. Do any of you need help with your packing?”

“We kinda all just throw all clothes in our bags and hope we can zip them up.”

“Sounds very similar to the way a certain someone packs as well.” Hope grins at Kelley.

“I actually do fold some stuff now, thank you. But you have to admit it was fun trying to get my suitcase closed sometimes.”

Hope smiles, thinking about their old times together. 

After returning to the hotel, the girls and Hope get to packing and getting ready for bed while Kelley pops out to visit with Alex.

Alex opens the door and Kelley laughs at her friend’s pyjamas before hugging her.

“You want some tea, Worms?”

“Please.”

They sit down with their teas and chat about random stuff for a bit.

“Okay, Worms, I have to know what’s happening with you and Hope.”

“I want to say nothing, but after spending the last few days with her and the girls, I’ve fallen for her all over again. Seeing the way, she has stepped up to look after Sam, just does something to me, you know?”

Alex laughs, “You guys slept together again, didn’t you?” Kelley nods. “Uh-huh, I knew that was coming; so, what are you going to do about it?”

“I think, no, I’m pretty sure that Hope feels the same way about me but we agreed the girls are our priority.”

“Kel, we’ve known each other for a long time and you know I love you, but stop being a dumbass! The woman you’ve been in love with forever has come back into your life and you’re pushing her away..”

“But, the girls, it’s complicated.”

“But nothing, life is complicated, love is complicated, relationships are complicated, everything is fucking complicated – figure it out! And now, get out of my house, because I’m exhausted and the kids will be up early in the morning.”

Kelley laughs at Alex before hugging her friend tightly, “Love you, Janice.”

“Love you too, Worms.”

Kelley enters the hotel room and finds Hope waiting for her, “Are the girls, okay?”

“Yeah, I just checked on them a short time ago. It’s cute the way Ava and Lexa sleep intertwined, reminds me a lot of us when we were younger.”

Kelley sits down on the bed, “Hope, we need to talk.”


	19. Chapter 19

Ava, Mia, Lexa and Sam all sit in their room talking and laughing before the knock comes on the door indicating it’s time to go.

“Are you guys sure, you still want to go through with this?” Lexa looks at Ava and Mia as she asks the question.

“We’re sure. Operation O’Solo is a go.”

“Alright then, good luck.”

Ava wraps her arms around Lexa, “We aren’t going to be able to do this at the airport.” Lexa offers a slight smile before joining her lips to Ava’s.

“I’m going to miss you, Lex.”

“I’m going to miss you too, but we promised that we would stay in contact.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the same as this.” Ava places her head on Lexa’s shoulder while the other girl holds her.

“Don’t worry, Sis, I’ll look after your girl.” Ava and Lexa look at Mia who is sitting on the bed with Sam. “I don’t mean it like that, eww!” They all laugh.

“It’s going to be expected that you and Lexa hold hands, snuggle and kiss, Mia. You have to act as if you’re me on the trip home.”

“I’ll do the hand-holding and snuggling, but I’m not kissing Baby Mewis over there.”

“Good!” Lexa quickly responds, “I don’t want to kiss you either!”

“For God’s sake, Mia, just kiss her on the cheek to keep up the premise,” Sam adds.

“Fine, I’ll kiss her on the cheek. But Ava, you should probably know that if Matt happens to come around he’s going to expect Me, I mean you to kiss him.”

“Not happening! I’m not kissing him.”

Sam starts laughing, causing them to all look at her, “I just find it funny that you are more concerned by who you may or may not have to kiss rather than reviewing everything you need to know to pull this off.”

Mia rolls her eyes, “As much as I hate to admit it, Sam is right.”

“Ha!”

“Shut it, Sam!”

They spend the next little while reviewing important things and making sure they have lots of notes on their phones.

Once there is knocking at the door they open it and find Hope and Kelley waiting for them, “Ready to go?”

They all shake their heads, “Too bad, it’s time to go.”

The girls take one last look around the room before collecting their bags and heading out behind the Moms.

Lexa takes Mia (Ava’s) bag and carries it for her out to the rental.

Arriving at Orlando International, they take care of returning the rental and then head into the main terminal to get checked in for their flights.

Having time to kill the girls wander around and take some final pictures together, even asking a passer-by to snap a group photo of them together.

“I’m really going to miss you guys, it’s been nice being around people who aren’t just being nice to me so they keep getting money.”

The girls all hug each other, “Everything is going to be okay, Sam. You have our numbers and can call or message us at any time, day or night.”

“I may not be able to if I don’t have money on my account.”

“We’ll make sure that you do.”

“What’s going on with your Moms this morning? They aren’t even sitting near or talking to each other.” They look across to the bank of chairs and see Kelley and Hope sitting in separate areas.

“Maybe, it’s the only way they can deal with being separated right now. They probably said their goodbyes last night or this morning.”

“We might as well go and sit down we still have a bit of a wait before our flights.”

“Now Boarding at Gate 20, Delta Airlines Flight 1234 to Atlanta, Georgia.” 

Kelley stands up, “That’s us Ava, Lexa.”

They all stand up and hug, fighting back the tears as they say goodbye. Lexa holds on to Mia (Ava) a little longer than necessary prompting the girls to suggest they let go of each other.

“Message me when you get in, okay?”

“I will, safe flight guys.”

Kelley walks over to Hope, bends down to hug her and then kisses her on the cheek before returning to walk with the girls to the gate. She hugs Ava (Mia) and asks her to look after her Mom.

The three heads towards the gate, with the girls looking back and having tears covering their faces.

The doors close and Kelley, Lexa and Mia (Ava) make their way back to Atlanta, where Lexa will stay over and then catch a flight the next day back to Boston.

“Now Boarding at Gate 17, Delta Airlines Flight 4321 to Salt Lake City, Utah.” 

Hope stands up, “Let’s go, guys, that’s our flight.”

“How long is our layover in Salt Lake, Mom?”

“An hour.”

Hope leads Sam and Mia (Ava) to the gate for their first flight of the day.

Once they get situated on the plane, Sam reaches for Ava’s hand to hold during the takeoff, releasing it once they’re in the air. “You okay?” Sam nods, “I don’t like takeoffs or landings.” “You can hold my hand, I don’t mind.” “Thanks.”

As they put their heads back to see about catching a bit of sleep on their flight, the others are already preparing to land in Atlanta after their quick flight.

They follow Kelley and collect their bags, waiting until Kelley’s phone rings

“Yep, we’re here.”

“You’re out front?”

“Be right out.”

Kelley hangs up, “Our ride is waiting.”

Lexa reaches over for Ava (Mia’s) hand and Mia shakes her head. Lexa stops and leaves her hand out, “Take it, you’re Ava, remember.”

They join hands and walk out to meet up with Kelley and her sister Erin, their chauffeur.

Erin hugs Kelley and then looks behind her and smiles when she sees the girls holding hands, “Seems like you have a bit of explaining to do, A.”

Mia remembering that Ava isn’t “out” to her family simply nods and says, “I guess so. This is Lexa, my … girlfriend.” Lexa squeezes her hand to make her say the g-word.

“You don’t sound so sure about that, kid.”

“I am, it’s just all new to me, you know?”

“I get it. Did Kelley ever tell you about how I caught her making out with a girl from the opposing team under the bleachers after their game against each? That’s how she ended up coming clean about liking girls to me. I’m interested to find out what prompted this turn of events. You can tell me on the drive to the apartment and then I can get to know all about Lexa beyond what Squirrel has already told me.”

Kelley and Lexa put their bags in the trunk as Erin and Ava (Mia) get caught up.

“So, A, spill how did you and Lexa end up together?” Mia freezes at the question from her Aunt.

“I got this one.” Lexa answers. “We were roommates at the camp and just hit it off from the start. We got closer once Ava and Mia found out about each other and things just kinda happened after a game of “Truth or Dare.”

“Wait! How did I not know this? Ava, were you dared to do anything inappropriate?”

“No, Mom, nothing like that. Sam and Mia were picking up on the fact that we liked each other as more than friends and when Lex picked to speak the truth it all came out.”

“You guys didn’t, you know, did you?”

“NO!!” They both respond.

“Good, you’re too young for that. Er, can we stop and get food, cupboards are bare and I’m hungry.”

“When aren’t you hungry, Squirrel.”

“When she shares a bed with Mo… Hope, she isn’t.”

Erin high fives Ava (Mia), “That was a good one, kid.”

They stop to get food and then head back to Kelley and Ava’s apartment to get settled in for the night.

Mia and Lexa look at the bed, “I guess we are snuggling tonight.”

Lexa shakes her head, “Guess so.”

Hope and the girls finally touch down in Denver, they catch a ride to the hotel, drop their bags and then go in search of food.

“How come you aren’t taking me back tonight?” Sam questions Hope as they sit and eat.

“Because I’m not required to return you until noon tomorrow and I’m thinking that as long as you are there by 11:55 that’s soon enough. Not to mention our flight to Seattle doesn’t leave until 4, so we have time to kill.”

Ava (Mia) smiles and hugs Hope, “Thank you.” Sam joins the hug as well.

“Okay, enough with the sappy stuff, finish eating.”

They finish their meal and then head back to the hotel to get ready for bed, choosing to watch a movie as they lay in the strange beds.

In Atlanta, Mia (Ava) is having difficulties falling asleep and gets up to get a drink from the kitchen, as she passes Kelley’s room, she hears crying and stops.

She walks over and wraps her arms around Kelley, scaring her, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

“No. Couldn’t sleep. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sure you noticed that Hope and I weren’t exactly close today.”

Mia (Ava) nods, “Did the two of you get into a fight?”

“You could say that. We both care about each other and you guys but can’t agree on how to make things work for all of us. Hope and Mia are in Seattle and that’s home to them and you and I are here. I love living in Georgia and being close to family and friends, but I also love Hope and Mia and don’t want to lose them again. I asked Hope if she would consider moving here with Mia and she didn’t flat out say no, but she asked for time to think about it.”

“You seriously asked M.. Hope about moving here?”

Kelley nods.

“Did she tell you why she needed time to think?”

“She just told me that she had her job, house, animals and Mia to take into consideration as well as some other things.”

“We would definitely need a bigger place if they were to move here; probably a house because they have two dogs.”

“You have been asking about getting a dog, who knows maybe you will end up with two, a sister and another Mom in the picture if we can ever figure it out.”

“We’ll figure it out, Mom, I promise. What’s going to happen with Sam?”

“Hope is taking her back to the foster home tomorrow sometime, but she promised that she will keep in contact with her and make sure she is okay.”

“So, she isn’t going to adopt her?”

“No, the timing isn’t right and it wouldn’t be fair to anyone to bring her into the mess of our family right now.”

Ava (Mia) starts crying and Kelley pulls her into her, kissing her head, “I know you care about Sam and I do too, but right now she is where she should be. Now, I’m turning in and you should too. I’ll see you in the morning, love you.”

“Love you, too.” Mia shocks herself with how easy it was for her to say those words to Kelley.

She heads back and curls up in bed beside Lexa finally able to fall asleep.

In the hotel room in Denver, Ava (Mia) and Sam are out cold; the travel having done them in.

Hope lays in bed staring at the ceiling of the room and over at the bed across from hers. She wants to sleep, but her mind is trying to process everything that has gone on in the last 24 hours.

She reaches over for her phone and looks at the time, trying to figure out the time difference and realizing that it’s late, she decides to send a message rather than calling.

New Message

Hope: Am I crazy for thinking about moving Mia and I across the country to be with Kelley and Ava?

Carli: Hope, what exactly is keeping you in Seattle? You already told me you aren’t renewing your contract with the Network and that Mia isn’t exactly thriving in your current situation. I know you love your house, land and animals but with the exception of the boys, they don’t keep you warm at night nor make your heart race at the sight of them. You love Kelley, you always have and always will but you’re terrified of the idea that you could actually be happy with her and the girls. You and KO aren’t the same two kids who got married way back when, only to have the relationship blow up on you; you have both grown into mature, intelligent, hardworking, loving women and are both amazing Moms to boot. You need to have faith in yourself and Kelley that you will be able to work together as a team again and bring your family back together as they should be.

Hope: I have a feeling you’ve been sitting on that for a while.

Carli: Since you first mentioned the girls meeting up at the camp and the possibility of seeing Kelley again. Now, if you don’t mind I need my beauty sleep.

Hope: Thanks Carl, night.

The following morning, Kelley, Ava (Mia) and Lexa do some sightseeing around the city, grab some lunch and then head to the airport, so Lexa can catch her flight home.

Lexa hugs Kelley and then Mia, holding her tightly before kissing her on the cheek. “I’ll message you and her when I get in. Look after each other.”

“Thanks, Lex. I’m glad my sister has you; but if you break her heart, I’m coming after you, got it?”

Lexa chokes on air, and nods before heading to her gate.

Mia feels Kelley wrap her arm around her waist, “You okay?” She nods before they head out of the airport to pick up groceries and supplies before heading home.

In Denver, the trio of Hope, Sam and Ava (Mia) enjoy a later breakfast together before collecting Sam’s stuff from the hotel and catching an Uber to the address of the foster home.

Pulling up to the curb, Hope gives it the once over as she pays the driver and they collect their stuff from the car.

“This is where you live?”

Sam nods sadly and Ava pulls her into her arms as Hope watches on. “We need to go inside now, girls.”

Sam leads them inside and they see kids drawing and playing in the front room, while the TV plays cartoons. One of the little boys seeing Sam, yells her name and then comes running over to hug her. She holds on to him, “Hey Brett, did you look after my stuff for me while I was gone?” He looks at her and then Hope and Ava before nodding. He lets go of Sam and returns to playing cars. 

A woman comes down the stairs, carrying a box in her arms. She sets it down in front of them, “Everything is in there, including your pictures, Sam.”

They all look on confused

“Am I being kicked out?” Sam speaks up as Ava takes her hand.

“Oh dear, I take it you didn’t get the email that Sam was being transferred to another home when she got back. They wouldn’t allow us to hold her bed when there are so many children in need of one.”

Sam breaks down with Ava holding her, “I don’t want to leave here; I like it here.”

“Mia, why don’t you take Sam in to see what the boys are drawing.”

Hope waits until they are in the other room, before unloading, “Why wasn’t I informed that she was going to be moved? I could have prepared her for it. This is unacceptable! What the hell is wrong with you people? You treat children as though they are just pawns and worth nothing. They are human beings and deserve better!”

“I agree with you and I tried to keep Sam here, but they wouldn’t allow it. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave now. There is a paper on top of the box with the address of her new home.”

“And what if I don’t take her there?”

“Then the cops will be called and you will be charged with kidnapping. You need to go now.”

Hope looks at the girls sitting on the couch, holding each other together, “Sam, Mia, it’s time to go.” Hope collects the box of Sam’s stuff and leads them back outside before calling for another ride. Hope places the box down and wraps her arms around the girls who melt into her.

Half an hour later they pull up in front of another house, that looks like it hasn’t seen any love in a long time. There is garbage scattered all around, a broken bicycle, a car on blocks and the lawn is in bad need of a cut.

Hope fights with herself about leaving Sam here, but she knows she can’t risk any police involvement.

“I’m sure, it looks much better on the inside than the outside.”

She leads the way up the sidewalk as the girls walk slowly behind her. The Uber drives away from the scene as soon as they are out the door.

Hope knocks on the door and it’s opened by a teenage looking boy, “Are you the new kid?”

Sam peers around Hope and nods, he opens the door and lets them in. Looking around there isn’t much to see, the rooms have furniture and a few pictures on the wall, it’s clean and smells like fresh baked cookies.

A scruffy-looking man makes his way to them and extends his hand to Hope, “I’m Jake and the wife’s Sarah, she’s in the kitchen making cookies with the young’ uns right now. Which one of yous is Sam?”

“I’m Sam.”

“Hey Sam, let me show you to your room.” Jake leads them down the hall to a back room where there is a small bed and closet. Nothing fancy about it. “Bathrooms at the top of the stairs.”

Sam sits down on the bed and Ava (Mia) sits beside her, “Everything will be okay, I promise.”

Hope leads Jake out of the room and asks for a tour of the place while the girls talk. There is nothing that raises an immediate Red flag about the place, but she just can’t get past the uneasiness she feels about leaving Sam there.

Hope leaves Jake in the kitchen and heads back to Sam’s room, “Mia, we need to head out or we’re going to miss our flight.”

“I don’t want to leave, Mom.”

“I know, but Jake and Sarah seem nice and they said that Sam would be able to call us.”

Ava releases her hold on her heartbroken friend, kissing her on the cheek, “Love you, Sam.”

“Love you, too.”

Hope fights back her own tears as she wraps her arms around the girl, “Call us or Kelley if you need anything at any time, okay?”

Sam nods and then watches as Hope and Ava make their way out of the room, down the hall and out the front door. She breaks down, feeling all alone.


	20. Chapter 20

Hope and Ava (Mia) sit at the airport awaiting their flight to be called. Hope stands up looks at Ava and tells her to stay put as she walks over to the ticket counter. After talking with the agent for a few minutes, Hope smiles and nod before returning to her.

“What was that all about?”

“You always say I’m not spontaneous enough, well this is me being spontaneous. I pushed our flight back until later, grab your bag and let’s go.”

“Where are going?”

Ava follows Hope out of the airport to the Taxi stand. The driver opens the trunk and they put their bags in it before climbing in the back seat.

“Where to?”

“Can you to take us to Denver Human Services, please.”

The car starts moving and Ava looks at Hope, “Sam?”

Hope nods, “I’ve grown attached to her over the last few days.” Ava leans over and hugs Hope.

They pull to a stop out in front of a building where a large group of people are standing around, fire trucks and police cars surround the front. Hope pays the driver and they collect their bags.

They walk over to a group, “Is this Denver Human Services?”

“Yes, amongst other things. Are you here to see someone?”

“I don’t have an appointment, but I wanted to speak with someone about starting the process to adopt a child in care. Can I ask what’s going on?”

“Someone was smoking in the bathroom again and started a fire in the trash can, which set off the alarms and sprinklers. We are just waiting for the all-clear before we can re-enter the building; unfortunately, it means that the office is going to be closed for the remainder of the day and possibly tomorrow as well.”

“Is their anyone we can speak with, in the meantime? We have a flight to catch in a couple of hours.”

Ava speaks up, “Please, it’s important; we need to get Sam out of there.”

The woman looks at them, “Do you think that this Sam is currently in danger where she is?”

Hope and Ava shrug.

“Okay, if she isn’t in immediate danger, I can’t do anything at the moment and without having access to the system, we can’t even begin to investigate the possibility of adoption. Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but I get a good feeling about the two of you.” The woman reaches into her purse and pulling out a card hands it to Hope. “Call me in two days and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

“Thank you.”

With nothing else able to be done at that moment, they head back to the airport to await their flight.

Ava eavesdrops on Hope’s phone conversation and assumes she is talking to her Mom about Sam and what’s happening.

“No, you don’t need to come here; I’ve got everything under control. I promise I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Yes, okay, bye.”

Hope wraps her arm around Ava (Mia), “You know I don’t break my promises and I promised that I would look after her and I fully intend to keep that promise.” Ava melts into Hope’s arms and fails at holding back the tears.

Ava spends the rest of the time messaging with Mia and Lexa, checking in and telling them about Sam and what has happened.

Eventually, the other two parties, have to turn in for the night and Ava sits and stares at her screen, hoping that Sam will respond to her messages.

She curls up on the bench and drifts off for a little while before Hope wakes her up as their flight is being called for boarding. “C’mon, kid you can sleep on the plane.”

Ava and Hope make their way onto the Delta aircraft and very soon after strapping in Ava falls asleep with her head on Hope’s shoulder.

A few hours later, they finally arrive in Seattle and head towards home.

Hope unlocks the front door and they walk in, locking the door and heading immediately towards their beds. Ava doesn’t even bother to change or take in her surroundings before falling on the bed and crashing.

The next morning she wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings basked in sunlight. Looking around she attempts to get her bearings and find the washroom, before searching out sustenance as her tummy is growling.

Ava heads out the kitchen and finds a note on the counter, “Mia, gone to pick up the boys from the kennel, be back shortly. Mom”

She looks in the fridge and is thankful that it seems as though Hope was up and out to the store early as there is food already there. Searching through the cupboards she finds what she needs for a bowl of cereal and grabs a banana to eat as well.

As she sits and eats the front door opens and Hope enters, quickly followed by two Dobermans, who sniff the air and run over to her barking.

Ava sits there helpless as the dogs continue barking at her.

“Aries, Zeus, go lay down!” The dogs sniff her again before walking over to the couch and laying down on it.

Hope looks at Ava and smiles, “Good morning Ava, how did you sleep?”

“Like a rock, wait, you know?”

“I wasn’t entirely sure until right now, the boys wouldn’t have barked at Mia. They recognized that your scent was different than hers and reacted accordingly.”

“Am I in trouble, Hope?”

“You and Mia are both in trouble for attempting to Parent Trap, Kelley and I.”

“I guess you are going to call Mom and tell her now, huh?”

“Not yet, I’m actually curious to see how long it takes before Kelley notices the difference.”

“So, then what happens to me now?”

“Right now, you finish eating and get cleaned up while I call Denver and see if they are in the office yet.”

“You really are serious about helping Sam, aren’t you Hope?”

Hope sits down beside her, “I am, and Ava, I’m serious about getting to know you as well.”

“Can I ask you something?” Hope nods. “Do you love my Mom?”

“Yes, I do.”

“She loves you too, you know.”

Hope nods, “I know. Ava, I want to tell you something, there are only a few people who know this, Kelley and Mia don’t and I would like to be able to tell them myself, ok?”

“It’s nothing bad is it?”

“No, it’s nothing bad as a matter of fact I think it’s something really good. My contract with the Network is set to expire soon, I was offered another season but I sent an email this morning formally declining it.”

“Wait, that means you quit your job right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m confused, how is that a good thing, to not have a job?”

“Because it means I’m no longer tied to living in this area and only covering MLS and NWSL games here; it means I can relocate, it means Mia and I can relocate.”

Ava eyes open wide with the realization of what Hope is saying and meaning, “You're talking about moving to Georgia aren’t you?”

Hope nods and Ava flies off the chair to hug her, almost knocking them both to the ground in the process. “I guess this means you are happy about the news?”

“OMG, it’s awesome!” Hope laughs at her, jumping around.

“Remember your Mom and Mia don’t know yet. I have a few things to figure out in order to make it happen. Now, go and get yourself cleaned up and I’ll make the call about Sam.”

Ava puts her dishes in the sink, which makes Hope laugh because she is forever picking up dishes left behind by Mia and watches as she skips to Mia’s room. 

As Ava heads to the shower to get cleaned up, Hope calls the number on the card the woman gave them and is met by an answering service stating that the office will be closed until the following day. She leaves a message asking for an immediate callback.

In Georgia, as Kelley runs out to the store to collect a few things Mia (Ava) hangs out with Erin and they watch some movies, or attempt to watch movies; not being able to agree on what to watch.

Erin watches Mia closely, “What’s with your sudden aversion to watching Disney movies?”

“I, umm.. just don’t feel like watching them right now, Auntie Erin. You know, I'm growing up.”

“And you’ve suddenly developed an interest in Zac Efron when you have a girlfriend. Not to mention you are wearing makeup when normally it’s like pulling teeth to get you to use anything other than chapstick. You need to start talking kid.”

Mia looks at her Aunt, “I’m Mia. Ava and I switched places, so we could get to know our other Moms better and try to figure out how to get them back together.”

Erin starts laughing, “Always knew Kelley watching that parent swap movie with Ava would come back to bite her in the ass. How can I help?”

“You aren’t going to give me up?”

“No way! I’m interested to see how long it takes before Squirrel figures it out, not to mention she hasn’t stopped talking about Hope, since they reconnected. She’s been in love with your Mom forever, you know.”

“Mom loves her too. I’ve never seen her smile or laugh so much as she has over the past week with Kelley being around.”

“They always did balance each other out really well; Hope was always so serious and Kelley just did things her own way.”

“Mom is still really serious, I can only imagine how long I’m going to be grounded for when she figures out what Ava and I did.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“She is probably going to make me clean the chicken coop and deal with stupid Ralph.”

“Ralph?”

“Her rooster, she finds it hilarious that he chases me around the yard.”

“Got any pics or vids?” Erin looks at her and asks. “Really? You think I got time to take a vid of a big ass rooster chasing me?”

“Why not, it’s be freaking hilarious!”

“Not! Oh crap Ava, I forgot to tell her about Ralph.”

“I’m sure, she’ll be fine. So, what exactly was the plan to get Hope and Kelley back together?”

“We didn’t exactly have one; we both just kinda thought that if we switched we could get to know our other Moms better and then figure it out from there.”

Mia’s phone buzzes and after reading the message she busts out laughing

Ava: What the hell Mia! You didn’t tell me about your Mom’s crazy-ass rooster! Stupid thing chased me down the road. Also, your Mom knows about the switch and is surprisingly okay with it. She is taking me out to meet your relatives this aft.

Mia: Oops, my bad. Ralph kinda slipped my mind. How did she figure out that it was you, I thought we covered pretty well. Erin figured it out as well but your Mom hasn’t yet.

Ava: Tell Auntie E, Hi for me. The dogs barked at me and also I was apparently too polite and emotional. Have you heard from Sam?

Mia: Should have known the boys would figure it out. Sam hasn’t responded to any messages or the group chat. I’m worried.

Ava: Hope already called Denver and left a message, but the office is closed until tomorrow.

Mia: Please let me know if you hear anything, okay, Sis?

Ava: I will, I promise and you too.

Mia: Deal. Have fun with the family, they are all loco!

Hope enters the room and smiles when she sees the dogs laying on the bed with Ava, “Nice to see the boys have accepted you into their pack. You ready to go?” 

“Not really, I get anxious around new people and surroundings.” Zeus rubs Ava’s hand with his head and Ava pets him causing Hope to smile.

“Everything will be okay if you have any issues, I will be close by.”

Ava nods and allows herself to be led out by Hope as the dogs follow behind.

As Hope drives, they talk with Ava revealing that Erin has already figured that it is Mia there but offering to help them.

“Ava, do you think Mia will be upset with me about us possibly moving to Georgia?”

“I think that you need to speak with her about it and explain what you are thinking and feeling. She loves you and wants you to be happy, hence why she went along with this whole switch thing. Don’t underestimate her ability to comprehend that sometimes change is for the better.”

Hope turns her head to look at Ava, “You’re definitely not Mia, she would have responded with a one-syllable response and probably also yelled at me.”

“Yeah, well I’ve kinda gotten used to having to explain a lot of things to Mom because honestly, she is smart but not necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed at all times.”

Hope laughs out, “That’s accurate. Kel is absolutely brilliant on certain things but others just fly over her head, but I guess that’s true for all of us.”

“Guess so.”

Ava spends the rest of the day getting to know her extended family, but never allowing Hope to be out of her sight for long, while Mia hangs with Erin and Kelley.

Mia gets comfy in her bed and is just about asleep when her phone buzzes. She leans over and looks at the screen, seeing Sam’s name she quickly picks it up.

“Sam?”

She hears crying, “Sam? Are you okay? Please talk to me.”

“Mia, I need help; I ran away, they’re horrible people. Jason tried to…..” The line goes dead.

Mia gets out of bed and runs into the living room where Kelley and Erin are chatting, “Kelley! Sam needs help!”

Kelley looks at her and shakes her head, seemingly with the realization that it isn’t Ava she’s currently talking too, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know exactly, Sam called me, she was crying and saying they were bad people and she said the name Jason and then the phone went dead.”

“Okay, I’m calling Hope. Message Sam, don’t call her in case she is hiding, try and get more information.”

Mia nods and sends Sam messages asking her for more info.

New Message

Mia: Where are you? Are you okay? Are you safe?

“Ring, Ring.”

Hope looks at the screen and over at Ava, “Have a feeling the gig is up, kid.”

Hope answers the call and puts it on speaker

“What’s up, Kel?”

“Hope, Sam called Ava, Mia, whoever crying, she needs help.”

“Okay, Ava grab my laptop and search flights to Denver.” Ava does and Hope says, quickly opening her laptop and going online to search.

“There isn’t anymore tonight, only in the morning.” Ava looks at her fighting tears.

“Kel, do you know anyone in Denver, who can get to her?”

“YES! Erin give me your phone, now!”

Erin passes her phone over to her sister, who after searching for a contact in her own phone dials a number.

“Hello?”

“It’s KO, I need your help.”

“What do you need?”

Kelley quickly explains the situation, that there is a young girl who needs help and that she will call back when she has more information.

“Okay, I’m here, call me back; if you consider her family then that makes her my family too.”

“Thanks, I’ll be in touch.”

Kelley hangs up Erin’s phone.

She looks over at Mia with tears running down her cheeks as Erin holds her and fights a losing battle of her own.

“Kel? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what else to do, Hopey.”

“Pray, that Sam is okay.”


	21. Chapter 21

Mia’s phone buzzes

New Message

Sam: Phone dying. Am ok. I’m here.

Sam drops a pin to her location and then goes quiet again.

“Mom, I mean Kelley!” Mia comes running, “She sent me her location.”

Kelley takes Mia’s phone and pulls up the map, before calling the number back.

“KO?”

“Yeah, I have a location, I’m going to send it to you and also send you a video to show to Sam and let her know that she can trust you.”

“Okay, it looks like she’s about 30 mins from here, I’ll leave in 5.”

“You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I’m just glad that I was in town to get your call. I’ll call you when I find her.”

“Thank you.”

Kelley records a video with Mia letting Sam know that everything will be okay and that they love her.” Kelley then sends the message on

Mia looks at Kelley, “Now, what do we do?”

“I call Hope back and let her know what’s going on and we wait.”

Half an hour goes by, then an hour and nothing; Kelley and Mia walk in circles while Erin watches on, unsure of how she can help them.

Mia curls up on the couch and Kelley covers her over as she falls asleep.

“Why haven’t we heard anything, Erin?” Kelley cries on her sister’s shoulder.

“You really care about this kid, don’t you?” Kelley nods.

“She’ll be okay, Kel, you gotta have faith.”

Kelley’s phone starts ringing and after reading the name on the display, Kelley grabs it from the table as Mia sits up, the sound having woke her up.

“Sam?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Are you okay, kid?”

“I’m okay now, Kelley.”

“Where are you?”

Another voice comes on the line, “KO, we are headed to my parents, I’ll call you when we get there in about 15 minutes.”

“Mia call your Mom and Ava and let them know, Sam is okay and in safe hands.”

Mia calls Hope and then returns to the room, walking over to Kelley and hugging her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just that my Mom doesn’t cry very often and she was crying while we were talking. She asked me to tell you that she booked a ticket on the first flight to Denver in the morning and that Pinoe is coming over to stay with Ava while she is away.”

“Oh, no poor Ava. She’s going to end up having to babysit Pinoe.”

“You know, Pinoe?”

Kelley smiles and nods, “We go back a way, kid. How about you head to bed now, it’s late and we know Sam is safe.”

Mia yawns and nods, “Night Mo.., Kelley and Auntie Erin.”

Mia heads into the bedroom, gets changed and is out cold in no time.

Kelley’s phone rings, “Hey.”

“She’s a good kid, KO, I can see why you want to help her. I sent her to grab a shower and Dad is making her something to eat, the poor kid hasn’t eaten all day.”

“Did she tell you what happened?”

“From what I was able to piece together, once Hope left she curled up and went to sleep when she woke up she found a boy in her room, he threatened her with a pocket knife and tried to touch her, she kicked him in the balls and ran away from the home. She kept running until she couldn’t anymore and ended up hiding in the playground at an elementary school. It took me a while to find her, she wasn’t answering me even though I was calling her name; she thought I was the foster parents. I played your video over and over again and she finally came out when she heard your voices.”

“The boy, he didn’t succeed in touching her, did he?”

“No, thankfully not. But I think if my Dad has his way, he won’t be walking anytime soon.”

Kelley laughs, “I forgot how much, I loved your Dad. Is he okay with Sam being there?”

“He said she is welcome to stay here as long as she needs.”

“Please tell him thank you for me and thank you Mal, I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Glad I could help. So, what’s the plan, now?”

“Hope will be flying in, in the morning, so expect to hear from her. You might want to have bail money handy because once she finds out what Jason did to Sam, she is probably going to go ballistic and get arrested.”

“Umm, okay. Is Hope going to contact the Police and Social Services when she gets here?”

“I would imagine so, I highly doubt that the foster parents will have contacted them yet.”

“Sam is here, I’m going to pass my phone over to her.”

“Thanks, Mal.”

“Kelley?”

“You had us really worried, kiddo. How are you doing?”

“I can’t go back there.”

“Hope will be there in the morning and she will help sort things out for you.”

“That boy Jason he cut up my clothes and wrecked my cleats.”

“Sam, we can replace your stuff, we can’t replace you; I’m just glad that you are okay.”

“Can I talk to Mia?”

“So you and Lexa were in on the switch; otherwise how would you know that Mia was with me?”

“Crap.”

“It’s okay, Sam, we all know about the swap in places now. I sent Mia to bed, she was absolutely exhausted. I’ll have her call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, I should give Mal back her phone now, she wants to check in with her husband before bed.”

“If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask Mal or Horace, okay? They are good peeps.” Sam laughs, “Okay, good night Kelley and thank you.”

“Night, Sam.”

After she has her fill of pasta, garlic bread and juice, Sam starts to feel a bit better and carries her dishes over to the sink to wash them.

“You can just set them in the sink, Sam, I’ll throw them in the dishwasher later.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Please don’t call me Sir, it makes me feel old.”

“But…” Sam starts to say it but bites her tongue.

“But what?” Horace looks at her with a grin.

“But, you are old.” Horace laughs. “Yeah, I am, but don’t tell my wife that; I’m heading to bed, do you need anything? Or did Mal help you out?”

Sam looks at her dead phone, “I don’t suppose you have an extra charger?”

“Not sure, have a drawer full of cords. If we don’t have one that fits, we’ll get you one tomorrow.”

Unable to find a charger that fits her phone, she places it in on the nightstand in the bedroom which Mal showed her to earlier. Sam looks around the room at the pictures, trophies and ribbons and the tears begin to fall.

A box of Kleenex is placed in her lap and arms wrap around her, “I promised Kelley that I would stay with you tonight.”

“You didn’t even know me until like three hours ago, why are you being so nice to me?”

“Because KO was there for me a lot when I was younger and the newbie on the US team, without her I wouldn’t have become the player I was or person I am now. You are important to her, which means you are important to me. Not to mention, I’m kinda scared of Hope and she would probably hurt me if I didn’t look after you.”

Sam laughs, “Hope isn’t that bad.”

“I guess we will find out in the morning when she gets here. So, do you want me to sleep on the floor or can I share the bed with you?”

“You aren’t sleeping on the floor in your own house, you can share the bed.”

Mal and Sam lay down on the bed and soon they are both asleep.

The next morning Kelley is awoken by knocking on her door. Still, in her PJs, she opens the door and finds her parents there.

“Did we make plans, that I forgot about?”

“No, Erin told us that Mia is here, we want to meet her.”

“She is still asleep and I need coffee.” Kelley heads into the kitchen to get some caffeine before facing the inquisition she knows is coming from her parents.

Cup in hand, she sits down on the couch, “Fire away, I know you have questions.”

“Erin already told us about how the girls swapped places on you and Hope and that there’s a possibility that you and Hope are getting back together. Also, can you clarify who this Sam girl is that she was talking about.”

“Sam is a girl that Ava and Mia became really close with while away at the camp as did Hope and I. She lives in a foster home and has for the last several years since her Mom passed away. We got permission for her to stay with us for an extra few days in Orlando along with Ava’s girlfriend Lexa. When Hope brought her back, they found out she had been transferred to another home. Long story short, Sam woke up and there was a boy in her room, he had messed up her belongings and pulled a knife on her, he tried to touch her and she kicked him in the balls and ran away. Last night was spent trying to find her in Denver and ensure that she was safe.”

“Is she? Wait, did you say Ava’s girlfriend?”

“Yes, Ava has a girlfriend and Sam is safe, she is currently staying with Mal and Horace Pugh. Hope should be arriving there in a few hours to hopefully sort out things.”

“What about Ava?”

“Hope asked Pinoe to stay with her.”

“Poor, Ava.”

“I know, right!”

“Pinoe’s not that bad.” Mia yawns, “Morning, Kelley.” Mia freezes up when she sees Kelley’s parents with her. Mia these are your Grandparents. Ava calls them Grandma and Papa, I’m sure it’s okay if you call them that as well.”

Mia comes closer, “Hi.” Karen gets up and walks over to hug her, “It’s nice to finally meet you Emelia; I’m your Grandma and that bald guy over there is your Papa.” She points to Dan sitting in the chair. Mia laughs.

“You’re absolutely beautiful, come sit and we can get to know each other better.”

Mia sits down and soon Kelley feels left out as they are deep in conversation without her.

Landing back in Denver, Hope collects her rental car and makes her way to the Pugh’s address with the help of her GPS.

Double-checking she has the right place, she knocks on the door and is met by Horace Pugh.

“Hope, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

“Yes Sir, may I come in?”

Horace allows Hope to enter, “You have a beautiful house.”

“Cut the crap, Hope; Mal and Sam are still asleep, I checked on them a short time ago. Would you like some coffee?”

“A coffee would be great, thank you.”

Horace and Hope sit and talk about Sam and what’s to come and reach an agreement that will work for all parties if approved.

Sam and Mal eventually emerge from the bedroom and when Sam sees Hope she runs over and jumps in her arms. Hope holds on to her as if she was her own.

“You okay?”

“I am now. What going to happen to me, Hope?”

“We need to file a complaint with Human Services.”

“They aren’t going to believe me.”

“We’ll make them, I promise you that you won’t be going back there except to collect your belongings.”

“So I’m going to end up in another foster home, I should have just kept running. Anything would be better than that.”

“Well, Horace and I were actually talking about that.”

“What do you mean?”

Horace looks at Mal and Sam, “I spoke with my wife early this morning and we agreed that this house is way to quiet with just us living here. Sam, how would you like to live here for a temporary time.”

“Temporary time? What, so when you get tired of me you ship me off again.”

“No Sam, that’s not what he means. We are going to see if you can stay here while I begin proceedings to adopt you.”

“Wait, what did you say?” Sam stops and looks at Hope. 

“I want to adopt you, Sam, if you’ll allow me too.”

“Your kidding, right?”

Hope shakes her head, “I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

Sam looks at her with tears running down her face and wraps her arms around the former keeper. "So, is that a yes?" "YES!!"

“Good, now that that’s all settled, how about we get you guys some breakfast before we head downtown.”

“Actually Horace, I already went ahead and made arrangements for a worker to come here and speak with us. She’ll be here at 1:00.”

Hope sits with Sam and holds her hand the closer it gets to 1:00, the more nervous the teen becomes.

“Do I really have to tell them what happened? Why can’t I just say I want to live here instead?”

“Because they need to know what happened and investigate to ensure it won’t ever happen again.”

“Okay, but you’ll be with me the entire time, right?”

Hope squeezes Sam’s hand, “I’m not going anywhere, kid.”

After taking down Sam’s version of what happened, the Social Worker, April Connolly put everything in motion and over the next few days it was found out that there had been multiple instances of stuff occurring under Jake and Sarah’s watch. A police officer along with April escorted, Hope and Sam back to the home so that she could collect her belongings.

When they got there, they found her room to be upside down, with most of her stuff destroyed, including the few pictures she actually had of her Mom and her. Sam sat on the floor of the room looking at the pieces of paper scattered around the room and began collecting them. She was surprised when Hope joined her and they collected every piece they could find before putting them in a bag for safekeeping.

Based on Horace and Karen Pugh’s good standing in the community and with the use of a few connections, they were issued a temporary permit which allowed for them to foster Sam.

Sam was returned to the Pugh household, while Hope met with April at the Human Services head office to discuss the plans for adoption.

“Hope, I’m going to be honest with you, you are a single Mom, soon to be without a job and considering a cross country move; it’s going to be tough to convince the powers that be to allow you to adopt Sam on your own. Is their anyone who would consider putting in a joint adoption application with you?”

Hope smiles, “Yeah, my soon to be fiancée.” 


	22. Chapter 22

A few weeks have passed and Sam has settled in nicely with the Pugh's.

Hope is now back in Seattle with Ava and they have spent the time getting to know each other better while Kelley and Mia have been doing the same on the opposite side of the country.

Ava walks out of the house one morning looking for Hope and finds her and a gentleman rounding up the chickens and loading them into the back of his truck. She sees and hears Ralph making it known that he isn't happy with his current accommodations and can't help but laugh at it.

"Serves him right for chasing me and Mia all the time, good riddance!" Ava thinks as she continues to watch on.

Once they are all collected Hope and the gentleman shake hands and the truck departs.

Hope walks over to Ava, "Morning." "Morning, Hope. So you were serious when you said you were selling the chickens."

"I was. Ava let's go inside so we can talk."

Hope washes up and then joins Ava in the living room with the dogs, who are now attached to her.

"Ava, I've really enjoyed having you here and getting to know you better."

"Me too, it's been fun doing some stuff with you that Mom would never allow me to do like shooting a gun."

"Please, don't lead with that when we get to Atlanta, okay, kid?"

Ava laughs, "No promises, it was pretty cool."

"Ava, I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about everything, your Mom and I and you girls especially. Kelley and Mia know about the move to Georgia now and both are excited about it."

"I can't wait to have Mia and you in the same area as us."

"Um... well, Ava, about that ... I love your Mom, I always have and always will. What I'm trying to say is that I don't just want Mia and me to live in the same area as you and Kelley, I want us all to live together and I want to make our family whole again; I want to ask your Mom to marry me and be my wife and partner again. What do you think about that?"

"Are you asking for my permission to propose to Mom?" Ava looks at Hope all serious.

Hope nods, "I know everything has moved incredibly fast and we aren't even technically together right now, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it and us happen. Before you answer I want to show you something." Hope stands up, walks over to her desk and pulls out a small box. Returning to the couch she opens the box and reveals two simple gold bands inside.

"Are they?"

Hope nods, "Yes, they are our original wedding bands. They are inscribed H+K=Forever, inside." Ava lifts up one of the rings and looks at the etching inside.

"You broke her heart. How do I know, you aren't going to do it again? Not to mention break Mia and me up again."

"Because I'm not the same person I was back then and I'm not going to run away at the first sign of trouble; I'm going to stay around and fight for those I love."

"Okay, you have my permission, but please don't hurt her."

"Thank you and I don't plan on ever hurting your Mom ever again."

"How are you planning on doing it? And are you planning on buying her a ring?"

"I am and I could use your help to pick one out for her; I know she doesn't do flashy."

"No, she doesn't."

"How about we go ring shopping after I do my final broadcast on Saturday?"

A few days later, Hope and Ava make the cross-country flight from Seattle to Atlanta. After collecting and loading their suitcases on a cart they push it and await the arrival of their ride.

Ava spotting Kelley, Mia and Lexa goes running across the airport as Hope pushes the cart behind her.

Ava hugs Kelley and Mia and then holds on to Lexa before placing a gentle kiss on her lips, "What are you doing here, Lex?"

"Your Mom flew me in earlier to surprise you, I'm staying for a few days." Ava turns and smiles at Kelley who nods in acknowledgement.

"It's so good to see and feel you in person, rather than through a screen." Ava and Lexa continue to hold each other as the other three watch on.

Kelley looks and Hope and signals her to follow her off to the side.

"What's on your mind, Kel?"

"Us."

"What about us?"

Kelley moves closer to Hope and looking at each other, they both know what is wanted at the moment as their mouths join and they kiss in the middle of the airport.

Mia watches on as they all kiss and feels like a third wheel.

"C'mon, guys, break it up!" Mia yells out, causing the others to laugh and finally separate.

They collect the cart and head out to the car and then on to Kelley and Ava's apartment.

"It's late guys, time to hit the sack. Who is sleeping where?"

"I'm on the couch, I'm not listening too or watching them make out," Mia responds.

"Fine with us. We have some catching up to do." Ava leans over and kisses Lexa's cheek. "Eww."

"We need to find you a boyfriend, Mia. I know a couple of guys from school, I'll hook you up."

"No offence Sis, but I'm pretty certain we are interested in different types."

"You don't like baseball and football players?"

"Ohh, we'll talk in the morning; you have pictures, right?" Ava laughs and nods in response to Mia's question.

Once the girls are all settled in for bed, Kelley and Hope head into the bedroom.

"You sure about this, Kel? I can still get a hotel room."

Kelley sits down on the bed and pats the spot beside her indicating that Hope should have a seat.

"Hope, I love you and I love Mia; I want us to move in together and be a family. I've already been looking at places to accommodate all of us, including your dogs."

Hope looks at Kelley before walking over to her suitcase and pulling out the ring box, she previously showed Ava along with a second one.

"Kel, we always talked about how fate originally brought us together and that if we were meant to be together, we would always find our way back to each other." Hope opens the first box, revealing the gold wedding bands, which causes Kelley to do a double-take. She goes to talk but Hope doesn't let her. "I'm not done, yet. We've made plenty of mistakes in our lives, but they have all served as learning experiences on the path to where we are now. Kelley, I love you and part of me always has, we always said we were each other's forever and from the moment I saw you in the office with Harris, I knew I wasn't going to let you go again." Hope drops down to one knee and opens the second box revealing the diamond ring Ava helped her pick out, "We have a long road ahead of us Kel, and there is no one in this world I would rather have as my co-pilot than you. I love you, Kelley Maureen O'Hara and I would really like to call you my wife again if you'll have me. Will you marry me, Kel?"

"Woah and here I thought asking you to move in together was a big step for us."

Hope still down on one knee looks at Kelley, "Knees aren't as good as they used to be, kinda need an answer to my question, before I get stuck in this position."

"Hope..."

"SAY YES, MOM!" Ava yells out as Mia hits her in the arm "Oww! That hurt Mia."

Hope and Kelley look at the door where their daughters and Lexa are standing and watching with tears in their eyes.

Ava walks in, "You guys love each other." Mia follows her lead, "And you belong together." Ava takes her sister's hand, "Forever."

"Yes."

All eyes focus on Kelley, "Was that a yes?"

"Yes, Hope, I'll marry you." Hope places the ring on her finger, "Kel, can you help me get up so I can kiss you?" Kelley laughs before helping her get up, they kiss as the girls swarm them.

"Out of curiosity, how did all three of you end up at the door at exactly the time I was proposing?"

"Ava had to go to the bathroom and heard you talking and apparently she knew about the ring, so she came and got us to see if it would happen, which it did," Mia responds.

"Which reminds me, I still have to pee." Ava takes off causing them all to laugh at her.

"Alright, the rest of you get to bed; we'll talk about this in the morning."

"Night, Mom and Mommy." Mia leaves the room with Lexa.

Hope and Kelley look at each other, "Which one of us is Mommy?"

Hope gets up and closes the bedroom door, "How about we find out who's the Daddy first?"

Laying in each other's arm, both are beyond happy at the turn of events.

"Kel, you know how you said before that we would figure out things with Sam together, have you changed your mind at all about that?"

"No, what's prompting this Hope?"

"I may have already told Denver Human Services that you were my fiancée and that we were putting in a joint application to adopt Sam; as they wouldn't approve me alone."

"A little presumptive of you to assume I would say yes, huh, Hopey?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry for springing it on you but I also didn't want you to think that I was only doing it just so I could adopt Sam."

"Hope, listen to me; I love you and we are getting married because I'm too hot to just be shacking up with you. Also, I'm 100% on board with bringing Sam into our family, I love that kid." 

"So, we're doing this then? Getting married and trying to adopt Sam?"

"Yep, but first, I'm not ready to sleep yet fiancée of mine." Kelley smiles at Hope before climbing on top of her and joining their mouths.

The next few days are filled with excitement as they begin the search for a new home that will fit all of them.

Ava is sad when she has to say goodbye to Lexa, but knowing that she will be able to talk to her all the time helps as they wave to each other before Lexa disappears to board her plane.

"You know Mom, I don't know how you did it; being apart from Hope for so long. I miss Lexa already and the plane hasn't even left yet."

Kelley wraps her arm around her, "I had you to help me get through it and I'm here for you to help you get through it."

"Love you, Mommy. Yeah, that's gonna take some getting used to." Ava mumbles.

Kelley laughs, "I love you too, kiddo; now let's go and see what kind of trouble Hope and Mia have gotten into while we've been gone."

Arriving back at the apartment, Kelley and Ava are met by the delicious smell of home-cooked food at the door and laughing.

They look at each other before making their way in further and finding Erin, Karen and Dan all chatting with Hope and Mia in the living room.

"Mom, Dad, Erin what are you all doing here?"

Hope stands up and walks over to Kelley kissing her on the cheek, "I invited them for supper. Would you like some wine or a beer, Babe?"

Kelley shakes her head, "What's wrong, Kel?"

"I feel like I've stepped into some form of parallel universe. You're all getting along and Hope, you cooked? You never cooked before."

"I've picked up a few things over the years, including how to make a killer lasagna. Go sit down and I'll bring you a drink, you're going to need it because apparently you didn't inform your parents that we were engaged or planning on adopting Sam."

"I can still make a run for the door." Kelley goes to turn and Hope grabs her arm, turning her and pulling her in for a kiss, "We don't run anymore; we face things head-on, together. I love you."

"Love you too."

Kelley sits down beside the girls on the floor.

"So, Kelley, I hear you have some news to share with us. But first, show us the ring."

Kelley lifts her hand up to show the engagement ring off to her family.

"When are you guys getting married, again?" Erin asks.

"We thought that perhaps, we would just pick a day and get married at City Hall. We went big the first time around and well that didn't exactly work out; this time it will be just about us finding our way back to each other."

Kelley and Hope smile at each other as she says it.

"Next question, when do we get to meet Sam?"

"Unfortunately, she isn't allowed to leave Denver with the way her custody currently is being handled. Not exactly sure what that means, but I think it means no one wants to deal with the paperwork right now. But, if you like we can Facetime her after supper; Hope and I haven't told her about the engagement yet either."

They sit down at the table to eat and enjoy each other's company. Karen and Dan keep looking at Ava and Mia, still getting used to the idea that their twin Granddaughters have been reunited after all these years.

"Girls, can we ask you something?"

"Yeah, Grandma, what is it?"

"How do you guys feel about the idea of your Moms adopting Sam? Are you concerned at all about it?"

"Of course, we are concerned about it and how things are changing for all of us; but we love Sam, she is our friend and she deserves to be surrounded by people who love her and want her to be apart of their family, however dysfunctional it may be at times." Mia looks at Ava and nods, "Yeah, what she said. Sam is one of us now."

"What about if they decline your petition for adoption, Kelley and Hope, what happens to her then?"

"Hopefully, that won't happen but if it does, Horace and Karen will be putting in their own application to adopt her. Either way, she will be with people who love her."

"How long until you know anything?"

"It could be awhile it complicates things that we want to adopt her out of State. We are being subjected to heavy-duty background stuff and they will be interviewing our friends and family, so expect to be called at some point to vouch for us."

"So, Ava, what's this about you having a girlfriend?" Ava looks at Kelley who can't help but laugh at her deer in the headlights reaction. "Sorry, not sorry, kid."

"Yes, I have a girlfriend, her name is Lexa and I really like her."

"How about you share with your Grandparents who Lexa's Mom is."

"Lexa's Mom, is Mom's former USWNT teammate, Sam Mewis."

"No way!" Erin laughs, "You fell for a Mewwy." "Shut it, Auntie E!"

They finish eating and after cleaning up sit down to call Sam, so they can share their news.

As the call connects, they see Sam come on screen

"Hey, guys, what's so important that you needed to talk with me rather than just messaging?"

"One sec, Moms, you're up" Mia passes her phone to Kelley and Hope.

"Hey Sam, how's everything?"

"Good, Horace got me into a rec league and I've made a few friends."

"That's awesome. You let us know if you need anything, okay?"

"I will, so what's got them so excited?"

"You know that Hope and Mia are moving here right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Hope and I are also getting married." They hear a scream and see the phone hit the floor.

Sam picks it back up, "Are you serious?"

They both nod

"Oh my god! Horace, Karen come here."

They see Mal's parents come closer in the background, "Hope and Kelley are getting married!" "Congratulations!!" "Thank you."

"When is it happening?"

"We're not sure yet, kiddo, but it's not going to be anything fancy, just a quick trip to City Hall. Probably after we get everything and everyone straightened away for moving and school."

"Eww, school!"

"Mia, that's enough."

"Sorry, Mom."

"Sam, I have some people here who would like to meet you, are you up to it?"

"Yep, the longer I'm on the phone with you guys the less chance of me having to tidy up my room before supper."

"Sam." Hope looks at the screen.

Sam rolls her eyes, "I know, I'll do it after I promise, Hope."

"You better, I don't want to hear that you aren't helping around the house like you promised."

"I will. So, who is there?"

The phone gets taken out of Hope's hand, "Hey, I'm Erin, you're um... soon to be Aunt."

"Oh, I know you, you're the one who always tells everyone to use protection and talks about sex and vibrators with Ava."

"Erin!"

"C'mon, kid, not cool! You sure we aren't already related, because you got a big mouth like Squirrel."

"Squirrel?"

"Kelley."

"Oh, I get it, the hair, right?"

Erin nods, "I like you, you're quick, you'll need to be in this family. I'm going to pass you on to the 'rents now, talk to you later Sam."

"Bye Erin."

Karen and Dan come on the screen, "Hi Sam, we're Kelley's parents."

"Kinda figured, guess we all know where she got the freckles from."

They bust out laughing, "I think you'll fit in just fine. We'll pass you back to the girls now, nice meeting you Sam."

"Nice meeting you too, I think, but is it really meeting if we are just talking through a screen?"

They hear Sam being called in the background, "I'm being called for supper now, can I call you guys back later?" Sam looks at Mia and Ava and they nod, "Bye, Sam."

"Bye."

Kelley looks at her parents, "So, what do you guys think of her?"

"She reminds me of you when you were the girl's age."

"That's good then right?"

"You were a little hellion once you hit puberty, Kelley."

"Oh, so that's not good."

"Where's the popcorn, when you need it because things are about to get interesting in the ... O'Hara Solo, no Solo O'Hara household." Erin mimics reaching into a popcorn bag and putting some in her mouth. 


	23. Chapter 23

Two months later after finally agreeing on a new home, moving in and getting the girls registered for school, Hope and Kelley exchange their vows at City Hall in front of family and a few select friends.

“By the power vested in me, by the State of Georgia, I now pronounce you to be married.”

Kelley and Hope smile at each other before leaning in and sealing the deal.

Everyone cheers as the newly married couple hug their daughters and hopefully soon to be daughter.

“Can we get some family photos, please?”

Kelley looks at her Mom and smiles before pulling Hope in close to her and kissing her.

“Save that for later, Squirrel. Some of us would like to be able to eat lunch.”

Kelley and Hope stand together with Ava and Mia on either side of them. Sam stands off to the side watching them.

Hope looks over at her, “Sam, what are you doing way over there, you are part of our family now; so get over here and smile.”

They all head back to the Solo O’Hara household, for food and cake and to celebrate the couple.

Opening the door, they are met by a large puddle at the doorway

“Who’s turn was it to let out the boys before we left?”

“Ava’s!”

“Ava, get this mess cleaned up, please before the rest of our guests arrive.”

“Yes, Moms.”

“Mia and Sam can you make sure the boys have food and water before they are crated.” They both nod before heading down the hall to the laundry/dog room.

“Zeus, Aries, let’s go!” The large dogs come scampering from the couch where they were laying observing everything.

Kelley shakes her head, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having two horses living with me.”

Hope laughs, “What about me, do you think you can get used to living with me for the rest of our lives?’

“The rest of our lives? That seems like such a long time Hopey, but I’m willing to try.” They kiss as their family and guests begin to arrive.

“Love you, Kel.”

“Love you, too, Hopey. Now, let’s get this party started!”

Kelley leaves her wife to join a group with Alex and a few other former teammates.

“I’m proud of you, Hope.”

Hope smiles, “Thanks, Carli.”

“Have you told Kelley and the girls yet about the offer from NESN yet?’

“No, I didn’t want anything to overshadow today. I’ve got my family back and that’s the most important thing to me right now.” Tears run down Hope’s face as she watches Kelley and the girls dance around.

“Wow, there’s a sight I never thought I’d see, the big bad Hope solo crying.”

“It’ll be the last thing you ever see Harris if you don’t delete that pic right now.”

Ashlyn quickly pulls the image up and taps the garbage can, making it disappear.

Hope looks at Ashlyn and softens up, “Harris, if you hadn’t decided to interfere with things by inviting my girls to camp, then none of this would have happened. I would still be in Seattle and away from the loves of my life, I’m only going to say this once, thank you for being a pain in the ass and bringing my family back together.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t worry I won’t tell anyone except Ali what you just said.”

“You better not, because I'm fairly certain that I can still outrun you and find a goal post to tape you too.”

“Keep it up and I’m taking my gift back.”

Kelley appears behind her, “No takesy, backsy, Harris.”

Ashlyn and Kelley hug, “Congrats, KO, although I still don’t know what you see in Solo.”

“Yeah, I’m not entirely sure, but she’s good in bed, so I’ll keep her around until a better model comes along.”

Hope steps forward and gives Kelley her glare, “You aren’t going to find a better model than me and I intend to prove it to you, wife of mine. Now, come here and kiss me.”

Kelley hops over and does just that, “God, you’re sexy when you do that; also, my underwear is soaked.”

Ashlyn covers her ears, “TMI, KO!”

They laugh before joining the others.

Later on that evening, they lay in each other’s arms after consummating their marriage.

Kelley plays with the gold bands now re-adorning her and Hope’s fingers.

“It’s real, Kel.”

“How’d you know what I was thinking?”

“Because I’m thinking about the same thing.

“Today, was amazing, well aside from the cake incident, because well that was fucking hilarious!”

“I don’t think that Ash was overly impressed by Zeus knocking her into the cake.”

“Hey, she was the one that said it was okay for the boys to come out and visit and also the one who was teasing them; she got what she deserved.”

“The girls posted the video online, it’s been getting a ton of views.”

“Oh well, Harris always did like the limelight and Ali was crying with laughter.”

“I wish Sam could stay with us and not fly back to Denver tomorrow.”

“I know, me too, but school is starting soon and she needs to get prepared for it. Besides, that Horace bent the rules allowing her to come here for the wedding in the first place and could get in trouble if she isn’t there when the worker checks in.”

“Erin and she seem to have hit it off like fire.”

“Yeah, which reminds me, I think you need to have a chat with your sister and remind her of what are approved topics of conversation with the girls. I heard her talking about girl on girl porn with Ava earlier.”

“Did, she happen to give her any site names?”

Hope smacks her arm, “Not the point, Kel.”

“Well, did she?”

“Kelley!”

“Asking for a friend, Babe.”

Hope laughs, “What have I gotten myself in to?”

Kelley turns over and climbs on top of her, “Hopefully, a long, happy marriage with tons of sex, starting now.” Kelley leans down to kiss her and things soon get heated.

The next morning, they are awoken by banging on the bedroom door, “Moms, are you alive?”

Kelley moans and Hope responds, “What do you need?”

“Grandma and Papa dropped us home because it’s almost time to take Sam to the airport.”

Kelley and Hope look at each other, “Crap, how long have we been asleep, for?”

Kelley picks up her phone and laughs, “It’s almost noon.”

“We’ll be out shortly girls, can you maybe put some coffee on for us, please.”

Hope lifts the covers, “Kel, we need to get up and adult now.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Then, I guess I’m showering alone.” Hope looks at her as she walks towards the bathroom.

“Not fair!” Kelley climbs out of the bed and joins her wife in the shower.

When they finally emerge from the bedroom clean and dressed, the girls are all sitting play video games.

“About time, coffee is cold now by the way.” Mia looks at them.

“We, umm.. got a bit distracted.”

“Aren’t you guys too old for shower sex?” They all look at Ava as she says it.

“I really need to talk to my sister,” Kelley mumbles, causing Hope to laugh.

After watching Sam’s plane take off, they decide to head out to grab food, before doing some back to school shopping with the girls.

“You looking forward to school, Mia?” 

“I hate school,” Mia mumbles before shoving a french fry in her mouth.

Hope looks at her, “I know it’s been difficult on you moving away from everyone and everything you knew, including your school, Mia but, you aren’t alone now; Ava will be right beside you if you need anything and you promised us when we registered you that you would try. According to Kelley, it’s one of the best schools in the area and they have a pretty good soccer team, from what I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, I know all about Ava and her team finishing as runners up in the division.”

“And that was with our leading scorer missing a couple of games because she was suspended for decking another girl who kissed her boyfriend.”

“This leading goal scorer still on the team? Cause she sounds like someone I’d like to hang with.”

“No! Things are going to be different now, there will be no more hanging around with the bad crowd, smoking, drinking and partying; those days are in the past like Seattle. New city, new start Mia, I expect you to make the most of your clean slate, and give it your best, no more skipping, or getting into fights; just focus on getting an education and playing soccer.”

“But, Mom.” Mia starts.

“No buts, I let you get away with a lot of stuff back home, but no more, those days are over, understood?”

Mia and Ava both look at her, “Yes, Mom.”

“Good, now let’s hit the mall.”

They finish eating and then make the drive to the shopping centre.

Once there, they find out very quickly how different the girl’s tastes are in clothing and accessories.

“Divide and conquer, Hopey?”

Hope nods and her and Mia head in one direction while Kelley and Ava head in another.

A few hours later and with their arms full of bags they meet back up and head home.

Kelley and Hope crash on the couch upon their return, “Good thing we have leftovers for supper, cause I’m not in any shape to cook, right now; shopping with teenagers is hard work!”

Hope laughs, “We aren’t as young as we used to be, Kel.”

“No, we aren’t.”

“Kel, I need to tell you something.”

“You’re not pregnant, are you? Cause if so, it definitely ain’t mine!”

“Really?” Hope shakes her head and laughs as Kelley shrugs, “Couldn’t resist.”

“I have an offer on the table to do some spots for NESN, it would require me travelling to Boston a few times a month.”

“That’s awesome! You need to jump on it! Don’t worry about the girls, I got it covered and the ‘rents are only a call away. Not to mention, I’m certain on of our daughters wouldn’t mind making the trip to Boston with you occasionally.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m fortunate that I can work from anywhere for my job and minimal travel is required except for quarterly reviews and assessments. Take it.”

“Okay, I’ll accept the offer.” 

Two weeks later and the girls have now started school.

Kelley is typing away on her laptop when her phone starts ringing

“Hello?”

“This is Principal, Shoebottom, from Starr’s Mills High.”

“Oh no, what happened?

“I have your daughter’s in my office, there was an incident here earlier. Are you available to come in and speak with me about it? They suggested I call you rather than your wife.”

“My wife is out of town at the moment for work, I’ll be there in a half-hour.”

“Alright, see you then.”

Kelley hangs up, closes her laptop and collects what she needs. Making the drive to the school, she stops at a light and hits the button to call Hope’s phone.

“Hey, Kel, what’s up?”

“I just got a call from the school, the girls are in the Principal’s office; apparently there was an incident, on my way there now.”

“Call me, when you know more; gotta go have a segment to tape. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Pulling up at her old school, Kelley can’t help but smile at the memories of her leading them to several Championships on the field. She walks in and looks at the showcase with her picture in it before entering the office.

The secretary is on the phone and put her finger up to Kelley. She hangs up, “If it isn’t the legend herself, welcome back, Kelley; what can I do for you today?”

“Umm.. well, apparently my daughters are with the Principal.”

“Let me just buzz him and let them know you’re here.”

“Kelley O’Hara is here to see you, Sir. Alright, I send her in.”

“Go ahead back Kelley, last door on the Right.”

Kelley walks down the hall and knocks on the door. Mr Shoebottom answers the door and lets her in, “Please have a seat.” Kelley looks at the girls and notices ice on Mia’s hand.

“Ms O’Hara, normally, when I’m calling a parent or guardian in to speak with them, I’m informing them that their child is being suspended and that could very well have been the case here, however, several witnesses have come forward to corroborate your daughters’ accounting of the events that took place.”

“Can you just skip to the part of telling me what happened, please?”

“Very well, a student took exception to Ava’s revelation that she was gay and had a girlfriend and made comments against it and homosexuality. He continued to harass Ava about it until Mia stepped up and hit him. Taking this information into account, I’m not going to suspend Mia at this time, however, she will have a weeks worth of lunchtime detention to be served, whenever.”

“What about the other student?”

“He has a broken nose, a bruised ego and 3 days suspension coming his way. Not to mention he will now be known as the jock who got taken out by a girl; I think that’s punishment enough.”

Kelley laughs, “Is it okay if I take the girls home now?”

Mr Shoebottom nods, “Maybe get Mia’s hand checked out as well, it’s pretty swollen. I’ll see you tomorrow, ladies.”

Kelley shakes the principal’s hand before leading Ava and Mia out of his office, “Collect what you need from your lockers and I’ll be waiting out front.”

New Message

Kelley: Mia decked a guy who was harassing Ava about being gay. I should be upset with her, but I’m not, I’m proud of her for standing up for her sister. Just hope it doesn’t become a habit. Going to take her to the clinic to get her hand checked out.

Hopey: Don’t be upset with her, she was protecting her sister. How’s the other guy?

Kelley: Broken nose and 3 days suspension.

Hopey: Give them both a hug and tell Mia good job for me.

Kelley laughs at her wife’s response.

A month later finds both girls on the field leading Starr’s Mills High to the soccer Championship.

As the final whistle sounds, Kelley and Hope part to reveal Lexa behind them. Ava seeing her comes running and jumps in her arms before kissing her.

“Well, I guess she isn’t so shy anymore about having a girlfriend.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

They search around for Mia and find her standing on the sidelines talking to a boy.

“Let it go, Hopey, they aren’t doing anything wrong.”

Heading into December, things are still up the air about Sam. April continues to reassure them that a decision one way or the other hasn’t been made yet and that it’s really just a waiting game.

They are all in regular contact with Sam and continue to try and make her feel as though she is apart of their family, even if she is still a ward of the State of Colorado.

Two weeks before Christmas, Hope and Kelley get the phone call they’ve been waiting for from April, informing them that their application to adopt Sam has finally been approved.

They break down in each other’s arms as they hang up the phone.

“Sam needs to finish her term at school before she can leave. How about we continue to tell the girls we haven’t heard anything and I say I have to leave for a couple of days for a special assignment and instead I fly to Denver and collect her.”

“I’m not sure I can keep this news to myself, Hopey.”

“It’s only 5 days, 6 tops, I have faith that you can keep your mouth shut for that long.”

“You wanna help me keep my mouth occupied?” Kelley leans in to kiss her, “Kel, the girls will be home from school soon and we have a ton of stuff to get done.”

“Five more minutes won’t make a difference.”

Hope leans in, “Five minutes.”

They sit on the couch and continue to kiss and hold each other for another few minutes.

The front door opens and Ava and Mia enter dropping their bags and causing the dogs to bark at the commotion.

“No bark!” The dogs come and investigate and after getting some pets return to their positions in the sunshine doing nothing.

“Moms, we’re home!”

“We’re in the living room.” The girls enter along with a few of their friends.

“Can we have a movie night?”

“What about homework?”

“Only have exams left.”

“Everyone check, with your parents first, please. We don’t need a repeat of the last time.”

“What’s the point of having a voicemail, if you aren’t going to check the messages?”

Kelley shrugs unable to answer the question. 

A few days later, they plant the seed in the girl’s head that Hope is heading out of town for work and will be back in a couple of days. Neither of them thinks, anything of it as Hope carries her suitcase out and catches a cab to the airport.

Hope arrives in Denver and drives her rental back to the Pugh’s. She knocks and is greeted at the door by Sam wrapping her arms around her.

“You all packed and ready to go, kid?”

“Just about. Mia called me earlier and I almost gave the secret away.”

“You didn’t though, right?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Good.”

Hope follows Sam in and greets Horace and Karen. “Thank you for letting me stay here rather than a hotel.”

“Of course, we have space.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for Sam and us; I can’t wait to finally bring her home.”

“April will be here in the morning to check-in and collect the paperwork.”

“Okay, I’m going to go and check in on her and the packing job.”

“We managed to get most of it in two suitcases and there’s one box of random stuff.”

The next morning, teardrops hit the papers as Hope signs on the line officially making Sam the newest member of the Solo O’Hara family.

After thanking and hugging everyone, Hope and Sam make the drive to the airport, get themselves and their luggage checked in and wait. 

Hope wraps her arm around Sam when she starts crying, “You okay, kid?”

“Yeah, it’s just…I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything, right now.”

Hope pulls her in and kisses her on the head, “Everything will be okay, I promise you that I’ll be with you every step of the way. Now, let’s get on that plane and surprise the hell out of Ava and Mia.”

Sam smiles and nods wiping away the tears as her and Hope make their way to the plane.

Sitting down on the plane, a woman across the aisle hands Sam some Kleenex, “Thank you.”

She smiles and looks at Hope, “You have a beautiful daughter.”

Hope smiles, “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

Once they land Hope messages Kelley to let her know they are on their way home. Erin, meets them at the airport and hugs Sam, “Welcome to the family, kid.”

“Thanks.”

Erin heads in the house first and she and Kelley act as though nothing is going on while setting up to record the girl’s reaction to what’s about to take place.

Knock, knock, knock

“Ava, Mia can you get that, please? If they are trying to sell something call the boys to get rid of them.”

Erin hits Kelley’s arm, “What? Gotta make it believable, right?”

Ava gets up to answer the door as the knocking continues, opening it she covers her mouth and starts crying.

“Who is it, Sis?”

When Ava doesn’t answer, Mia gets up to look and starts crying, when she sees Sam standing there with Hope.

“Does this mean?”

Hope nods, “Oh my god!” Ava and Mia launch themselves at the girl in the door and their Mom.


	24. Chapter 24

3 Years Later…

Ava watches the time on the scoreboard count down, with the United States trailing England by a score of 2 – 1 in the U18 Women’s World Cup. The whistle blows and a corner kick is indicated for the US; Ava looks towards the sidelines for permission before making the run downfield and joining the play.

The Solo O’Hara contingent stand and watch on as the play unfolds in slow motion.

The whistle blows and Tessa sends the ball towards the box, an English player gets a head on it and sends it out, the ball drops in front of Ava and not even bother to think about the placement of it, she puts her laces through it, sending it back through the crowd and into the netting to tie the game.

“OH MY GOD!” Ava is swarmed by her teammates including Mia, Lexa, Jade, Tessa and Sam with Storm and the rest of the team going nuts on the sideline.

“That’s one way to get noticed, Sis, now get back on your line and let’s knock these Lionesses on their asses.”

Ava laughs at Mia’s speech before making the jog back to her end of the field.

The whistle blows minutes later with the teams in a deadlock and headed to extra time.

Ava joins her teammates for instructions and Storm jumps on her back. “Get off me Storm.”

“When I grow up, I want to be just like you.” The backup keeper spurts out as she jumps down. “Storm, we’re like the same age.”

“Oh, right, you know what I mean though right?” Ava looks at her and shakes her head, “I barely ever know what you mean, Storm.”

“Stormy, leave Ava alone.”

“Okay, Jadey.” Storm bounces off to stand with Jade.

Ava can’t help but laugh at their odd pairing. She feels a hand on her arm and smiles knowing the owner of said hand. “We got this, Babe.”

“I hope so, because that was a long run from one end to the other and I thought that I was about to be taken out by one of their players, I prefer being in my own goal.”

“Don’t you mean being a Solo in goal?”

“Babe, that stopped being cute a few years back.”

They hear Mia calling them all in, “Team on 3”

“1, 2, 3, Team!! Let’s go!”

Hope leans into her wife, “Out of the 3 girls, I never thought I’d see the day that Mia would be wearing the Captain’s band; and for the US, no less.”

Kelley laughs, “She still has her big mouth, Hopey, now it’s just being put to better use.”

“I blame you for the big mouth and attitude, Kel.”

“No way! The attitude is all you, big bad.” Hope laughs and kisses her on the cheek as the whistle blows to start the first period of extra time.

“C’MON, REF THAT’S A CARD ALL DAY LONG! OPEN YOUR EYES!”

Kelley and Hope look at each other and laugh before turning to look at Sammy, Kristie and Rachel who are yelling and cheering on Lexa behind them.

Tessa causes a turnover and sends the ball over to Sam, who gives it back to her, then sends a long pass over to Jade, Jade takes the shot but doesn’t get enough on it to cause the English keeper any trouble.

The keeper sends a long ball and the England player manages to outpace Ava’s defender, Ava bolts off her line and manages to get a boot on the ball moments before the opposition does.

“You can breathe, Kel.”

“Oh, right.”

On the resulting throw-in, England manages to gain the American end and plays the give on go, an attempting shot redirects sending Ava sprawling in the opposite direction only to see a blue sock and cleat clear it off the line. Ava smothers the ball and holds it allowing her team to reset. She looks at Sam, smiles and nods.

Ava seeing her sister cheating towards the midpoint of the field decides to send her own bomb downfield and watches on as Mia catches up to it, drawing the keeper off her line, but rather than shooting, she sends the ball across into the path of Jade who was trailing and makes no mistake in burying it in the open net. 

“YES!!” The crowd and players go nuts cheering, but aware that there is still ample time on the board for the Lionesses to equalize.

The first period of extra time comes to a conclusion with the US clinging to their one-goal lead.

“We got this, team on 3!”

“1, 2, 3, TEAM! USA! USA!”

Ava sets down her water bottle and takes her place waiting for the whistle. She notices Mia looking back at her and nods.

“Kel, you’re crushing my hand.”

Kelley releases her wife’s hand, “Sorry, I just can’t watch, I’m too nervous.”

“The girl’s will be fine, win or lose.”

“They better not lose I already ordered a cake for when we get back home, and I may have asked my Mom and Dad to decorate the house.”

“Where was I when you were making these plans?”

Kelley looks down at her shoes, which are suddenly more interesting than what’s unfolding on the field, “I may have done it on a whim after we had sex and you were asleep.”

“I’m scared to even ask but did you do anything else during your post-coital bliss that I should be aware of?”

“Umm, well if I tell you, it’s going to ruin the surprise.”

“Kelley!”

“The house hasn’t been the same since we lost Zeus, so I went ahead and picked out a puppy for us.”

“What kind?”

“German Shepherd, her name is Ophelia. Oh Crap!” Kelley stands up and looks down at the field where Sam is on the ground.

The referee shows a Yellow card and then quickly a Red one follows; giving the US a man advantage for the last 5 minutes of the game.

The trainers help Sam up and she walks off on her own, giving Kelley and Hope a thumbs-up sign as she reaches the sideline and awaits being allowed back on the field.

The England keeper yells and directs her players in forming a wall, while Mia, Jade and Tessa discuss strategy. Tessa and Mia line up behind the ball as Jade moves into position.

The whistle blows and Tessa sends the ball over to Jade at the side of the box, who draws the players over and then sends the cross into Mia who charges forward and connects on the header, sending the ball down and past the frozen keeper.

Ava wastes no time in making the sprint downfield to celebrate with her teammates and sisters as Hope holds on to Kelley preventing her from joining them.

England takes one more shot from far and Ava comfortably catches it as the final whistle blows.

The American contingent in the stands cheers on as their team celebrates on the field. Ava ripping off her gloves shoves them in the back of her shorts as she hugs her sisters, “We did it, guys.” “Yeah, we did; I have a feeling that this is just the start for us.” Ava, Mia and Sam all look at each other and smile at the thought.

“Mind if I interrupt?” Lexa joins them, “Go ahead, Lex, she’s all yours. Come on Sam, let’s go bug Storm and Jade.”

Ava and Lexa wrap their arms around each other content at the moment. “I love you, Lex.” Lexa looks at Ava with tears in her eyes, “I love you, Ava.” Not caring about their surroundings, they share a kiss before joining their teammates for the presentations.

One Year Later …

After running the table undefeated the team from Starr’s Mills lead by Seniors Ava, Mia and Samantha O’Hara collect their third straight Championship.

With University scouts chomping at the bit, for their services, Kelley and Hope decide it’s time to have a serious chat with the girls about their future.

“You guys are five months away from graduating High School, and your Mom and I are fielding calls and emails from schools all over the US, have you made any decisions on where you might like to go?”

“Lexa received an offer for UNC, I think that I would like to go there as well if I get an offer from them and it would be cool working with Ashlyn, now that she is the GK Coach there.” Ava answers.

“What about you Mia? Sam?”

Sam looks down, “I’m not sure if my grades are good enough to get into any of the good schools.”

“You’ve worked really hard with your tutor Sam and your marks have improved a lot since we were finally able to confirm that you have a learning disability and are not stupid like you kept insisting you were. We’re all very proud of you Sam, regardless of what happens next.” Mia and Ava hug her, “We love you, Sis.”

“What about you, Mia?”

“Jade is going to UCLA and Tessa, Stanford, I think that I’d like to join them in the Cali sun.”

“Stanford? You never told me that you were thinking about going to Stanford.”

“Because I wasn’t sure if my grades and scores are high enough, I’m not as smart as Ava is; but if I don’t get in there, UCLA would be my second choice.

“You’ve been talking to Alex, again haven’t you?”

Mia smiles when Kelley mentions her longtime friend and UCLA alum, Alex Morgan.

5 Months Later …

Hope and Kelley fight back tears as one by one their daughters are called up on stage to receive their diplomas.

“Ava O’Hara will be attending the University of North Carolina on a full athletic and academic next year, Congratulations, Ava.”

“Emelia O’Hara will be attending UCLA on a full scholarship next year, Congratulations, Mia.”

“Samantha O’Hara will be attending the University of Georgia on an athletic scholarship next year, Congratulations, Samantha.”

3 Months Later …

“You’re sure you have everything, right, Mia?”

“Mom, I’m positive and what I don’t have I’m sure Jade will or Auntie Alex can hook me up. I’ll be fine, I’ll call and message you all the time, I promise. I love you, Mom and Mommy.”

Hope and Kelley wrap their arms around Mia and hold her tightly, “Can’t breathe!”

Sam and Ava watch on and then hug their sister. “I’ll talk to you guys every day, I promise; love you, Sisters.”

They all take deep breaths and wipe away the tears as Mia makes her to the assigned gate for her flight.

“One down, two to go.” Hope takes Kelley’s hand, “We’ll be okay, Kel.”

“I know, it’s just going to be weird not having them around.”

“We’ll see Sam all the time and Ava isn’t that far away.”

“It’s just, nothing is ever going to be the same again.”

“And that’s a good thing, Kel. We have three beautiful, smart daughters who are now starting to find their way out into the world; we need to trust that they are capable of making the right decisions for themselves now. Just think, empty house means no interruptions for us time, Kel.”

“Oh, when you put it that way, let’s get the other two packed and out the door!”

“Really, Kel?”

“Only, kidding Hopey.”

After loading up Ava and Sam’s cars and watching them drive away, the reality really sets in, that the girls are all grown up now.


	25. Chapter 25

EPILOGUE

“Sam, come on, we need to get a move on or else we’re going to be late.”

“The game doesn’t start for another two hours, Kel; We have time.”

“I still can’t believe that our girls, well two of our girls, are playing in the NCAA Final against each other.”

“Alright, I’m ready, let’s go!” Sam comes through the door and joins her Moms.

“What took you so long?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t decide which jersey to wear; so, I just put one of mine on instead.”

Kelley wearing one of Ava’s UNC jerseys and Hope wearing a UCLA one of Mia’s, look at Sam and laugh, “We get it. Now, let’s get out of here before the traffic is bad.”

“Are Grandma, Papa, Auntie Erin and Uncle Jerry meeting us there?”

“Yep.”

They make the drive to the Rose Bowl, site of the 2024 NCAA Tournament Championship.

Kelley takes Hope and Sam’s hands and they make their way towards the stadium and flash their passes to security, who lets them enter.

“Sam, are you okay to hang for a few minutes, Hope and I are doing an interview together for NESN.”

“Yeah, actually Tessa is around here somewhere, she messaged me a short time ago and asked where we were sitting.”

“Okay, we’ll see you at the seats in a bit then.”

“Tessa!”

The women turn around and Tessa comes running over to Sam wrapping her arms around her. “It’s been too long!” “Yeah, well school, you know.” “I hear ya. How are things?”

“Good, you?” “Oh, sorry, this is my friend Sarah.” 

Sam hugs Sarah as well, “Nice to meet you.”

Sarah looks perplexed when see sees the players taking to the field for warmups on the big screen, “Which team are we cheering for again, T?”

“I have friends on both teams, so I’m refraining from cheering for a team, instead, for just the players.”

“Oh, well I like the Blue team’s shirts, so can I cheer for them?”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

Sam leans into Tessa, “Both teams are wearing Blue, warmups, who is she talking about?”

“Does it really matter?”

Sam shrugs, “Guess not. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, is she?” Tessa shakes her head causing Sam to laugh.

“Who are you cheering for Sam?”

“My sisters,” Sam says it with a big smile, making Tessa’s face light up with one as well.

As Karen, Dan, Erin and Jerry arrive Sam goes over to sit with them and soon Kelley and Hope make their way to their seats. Kristie, Rachel and Sammy find their seats behind the O’Hara family.

“Nice jersey, KO.”

“Must be weird for you cheering against your old school Sammy.”

“Only when it comes to Lexa playing against them.”

“Is Lexa opting into the NWSL Draft?”

“Yeah, we made a deal that she had to finish school before joining the team though.”

“We made the same deal with Ava and Mia.”

“What about Sam?”

“She redshirted a season because of her knee, so she will be returning to UGA next year to finish out.”

“KO, have you and Lexa talked recently?”

Not wanting to say anything but knowing the direction that Sammy is headed, Kelley smiles and nods.

Kelley feels Hope grab her arm and turns around. She takes out her phone and starts recording her daughters as they hug each other in line.

Hope takes her phone as Kelley breaks down in tears watching them. “It’s going to be a long game, so glad I brought tons of Kleenex.”

Mia remains joins Lexa with the officials for the coin flip, the two hug, before rejoining their respective teams on the sideline.

The Bruins pelt Ava with shots for 90 minutes and she continues to make jaw-dropping saves off the laces of both her sister and Jade to keep the teams level at one goal apiece.

“How many shots is that on Ava, Hope?”

“17 or 18 at least, Ava has kept her team in the game, their first half was abysmal, they’re lucky to even be tied right now.”

“Agreed. They got 30 minutes, they better wake the hell up.”

“Thought you weren’t picking sides, Kel.”

“I’m trying not to, but come on Ava has been standing on her head today and deserves it.”

The first 15 minutes go by and the #1 ranked team from UCLA remain tied with the #2 ranked UNC.

They watch on as Lexa calls the Coach and Ava on to the field for a quick chat. He smiles and nods before returning to the sideline.

“What do you think that was about?”

Hope shrugs in response to Kelley’s question.

Play resumes and UCLA has the opposition on their heels. Ava times her jump perfectly, catching the ball and then launching it with all her might downfield to Lexa who turns on the jets and moves swiftly down the line, not having anyone to pass to, she decides to take the shot and sends it past the diving keeper just inside the far post.

Lexa drops to her knees as she is swarmed by her teammates. Ava meets her at the centre and hugs her before returning to her position for the final few minutes of play.

The official shows two minutes of added time and for UNC the clock seems to freeze. Gaining possession of the ball the Tarheels drive to the corner flag and play keep away letting the clock tick down as the UCLA resign themselves to being defeated.

Hearing the final whistle, the tears fall on both sides of the field and in the stands, split between celebrating the victory and morning the loss.

After celebrating the teams shake hands and hugs and prepare for the presentation of the Trophy.

Lexa runs over and takes Ava’s hand dragging her to the middle of the field.

“Lex, what are you doing?”

Lexa removes her armband revealing something taped to the inside of it. She peels back the tape and Ava soon realizes what is in her hand, “Oh My God!”

Lexa smiles as she drops down to one knee in front of her, “I had a whole speech worked out but I can’t exactly remember it at the moment, so I’m going to wing it; I love you Ava, you are my best friend and my life and I’d really like to call you my wife; will you marry me?”

“Yes, a million times yes, I love you so much, Lex.” Lexa slides the ring on Ava’s finger and they kiss as everyone watches and cheers them on.”

Sam looks over at Kelley and Hope, “You guys knew she was going to do that didn’t you?”

“Lexa asked for our permission to propose a while ago, although we didn’t know it was going to happen today.”

Mia and Jade come running over to them, hugging the pair, “Congratulations, lovebirds, took you long enough to put a ring on her finger, Mewis.”

The engaged couple rejoins their teammates for the presentations before they head into the changeroom to celebrate, back to the hotel to get cleaned up and dressed for a friends and family celebration at a nearby restaurant and then with Ava and Lexa deciding to skip out a bit early to celebrate back at the hotel on their own.

2 Months Later…

“With the 1st pick of the 2025 NWSL College Draft, LAFC select from UCLA, Emelia O’Hara.”

“With the 7th pick of the Draft, the Utah Royals, select from UNC, Alexandra Mewis.”

“With the 10th pick of the Draft, the Sacramento FC, select from UNC, Ava O’Hara.”

As they watch Ava walk up to the stage to collect her scarf, Hope reaches over and wraps her arm around her wife, “We did good, Kel.” They kiss, “Yeah, we did.”

“Enough, already, I’m right beside you.”

“Take everything in Sam, it will be your turn next year.”

“What if I don’t want to play pro? I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I really want to help kids who are lost in the system like I was. I was thinking of maybe becoming a social worker.”

“Sam, Kelley and I love you and are proud of you and if you don’t want to play soccer anymore that’s more than fine with us; all we want is for you to be happy.”

Kelley and Hope hug Sam, “Thank you.”

1 Year Later…

“It gives me great pleasure to announce in front of your family and friends that you are now married, you may kiss your bride.”

Ava and Lexa smile at each other before moving closer, leaning in and sharing their first kiss as a married couple.

Sitting at a table watching the couple on the dance floor, Mia and Sam sip their drinks.

“Sam, how come we only end up dating losers?”

Sam laughs, “Mia, I think that conversation requires another glass, I’ll be right back.”

Sam walks over to the bar to collect her and Mia each another glass of champagne.

Mia is looking across the room and smiling at a couple of guys when Sam returns, “Don’t look now Sam, but two hot guys are approaching us.”

“I’m Brian and this is my brother Brett and we couldn’t help but notice that you beautiful ladies aren’t dancing and we were wondering if we could convince you to join us on the floor?”

“What do you think, Sam”

“Why, not.” Sam and Mia stand up and let Brian and Brett escort them to the floor.

Kelley and Hope are catching up with some of their former teammates when Mal Pugh approaches them, “It was a lovely service, both of the girls looked absolutely beautiful.”

“Thanks, Mal. Where’s your hubby?”

“At a conference in Houston, I brought my sons Brian and Brett with me and I was planning on introducing them to you, but I can seem to find them at the moment.”

“They wouldn’t happen to be the gentlemen that Sam and Mia are dancing with at the moment, would they?”

Mal turns her attention to the dance floor, where indeed it is her twin sons dancing with Sam and Mia.

“You know, studies indicate that around 20% of people meet their future spouse at weddings.”

“Kelley, don’t even think about it!”

“I’m not doing anything, if it’s meant to happen, it will, like you and me were always destined to meet, fall in love, have a family, go our separate ways for a bit, find our way back to each other and add Sam to our family.”


	26. Chapter 26

Hey everyone finally put some chapters down of the Point of Impact sequel, "Ripple Effect" and will be posting the first one tomorrow morning, so be on the lookout for it. 


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